











































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Class_ 

Book_ 



COFWFGHT DEFOSiT. 









I 











4 







* 





























































OTHER BOOKS BY BISHOP FISHER 


THE WAY TO WIN 
Successful Methods in the Local Church 

GIFTS FROM THE DESERT 
GARMENTS OF POWER 




Which Road Shall 
We Take? 


A Frank Discussion of 


METHODISM’S INTERNATIONAL POLITY 

y" 

By FREDERICK B. FISHER 

Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church 




THE METHODIST BOOK CONCERN 
NEW YORK CINCINNATI 


. Fs ' 


Copyright, 1923, by 

FREDERICK B: FISHER 


All rights reserved, including that of translation into 
foreign languages, including the Scandinavian 


\ 


o r 


Printed in the United States of America 


© Cl A 7 6 5 3 3 0 


DEC 13 1923 

J 


DEDICATED TO 


DAVID G. DOWNEY 

CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON EPISCOPACY 
AND TO 

TITUS LOWE 

CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN MISSIONS 

IN THE 

GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1920 

To these men, by the blessing of God and the suffrage of 
their brethren, it was given to present programs of construc¬ 
tive advance, worthy of modern Methodism and of the times 
in which we live. 


0 













CONTENTS 


PAGE 


CHAPTER 

Preface. 9 

Outline of Chapters . 13 

I. The Crossroads. 21 

II. Sign Posts in the Book of Discipline. .. 32 

III. Mile Posts in Our History. 54 

IV. The Damascus Road. 73 

V. The Inevitable Goal. 86 

Methodist Catholicity. 91 

Provision for National Churches. 95 

Central Conference Safeguards. 101 

New Provisions Expected. 103 

Autonomy Guaranteed. 108 

Requisites for Indigenous Growth. 112 

VI. The Road of the Burning Heart - 119 

Appendix A. 129 

Are There Too Many Bishops? 

Appendix B. 150 

The Indian Church Measure 
















PREFACE 


This book is an attempt to make a con¬ 
structive contribution to the discussion now 
taking place with reference to the develop¬ 
ment of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
outside of the United States of America. 

Central Mission Conferences have been 
provided for in the Disciplinary law of the 
church for more than a generation. The 
Annual Conferences in India, through an 
Enabling Act of the General Conference, 
organized the first Central Conference 
thirty-eight years ago. It has had a success¬ 
ful career and has made definite contribu¬ 
tions to the growth of Methodism in South¬ 
ern Asia. Thirteen sessions have been held, 
and the fourteenth convenes in Calcutta in 
December, 1923. Besides the Missionary 
Bishops in Southern Asia, there have been 
four General Superintendents who have pre¬ 
sided over its sessions. These were Bishops 
John F. Hurst, W. X. Ninde, Cyrus D. 

9 


PREFACE 


Foss, and Henry W. Warren. Other 
fields have from time to time taken advan¬ 
tage of the legislation, with the result that 
the recent General Conference defined the 
territories for six Central Conferences, as 
follows: (1) Europe, including North Af¬ 
rica; (2) Eastern Asia; (3) Southern Asia; 
(4) Southeastern Asia; (5) South Africa; 
(6) Latin America. 

The recent assignment of additional gen¬ 
eral superintendents abroad, and the read¬ 
justment of the Central Conferences to 
present-day needs, have brought this subject 
to the fore. 

This enlargement of powers was granted 
by the General Conference of 1920 in re¬ 
sponse to a memorial from Southern Asia. 1 
From other conservative sources a memorial 
was presented asking that the powers be lim¬ 
ited, but the General Conference by de¬ 
liberate choice voted nonconcurrence in this, 
and proceeded with legislation for increased 
privileges. 

Duri ng the last year there have appeared 

1 General Conference Journal, 1920, page 600. 

10 



PREFACE 


two books, diametrically opposed to each 
other, namely, The Next Step—A Study in 
Methodist Polity , by the Reverend Paul 
Hutchinson, and The Methodist Episcopal 
Church and Its Foreign Missions , by Bishop 
Thomas B. Neely. Mr. Hutchinson’s book 
appeared first, and created church-wide in¬ 
terest. Bishop Neely’s book combats Mr. 
Hutchinson’s suggestions, and attacks the 
legality of our foreign organization and 
growth. 

I shall try to demonstrate that our inter¬ 
national polity is moderate but progressive, 
and in strict conformity with the ideals and 
historic growth of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

If certain personalities are mentioned, it 
is because they have been referred to in one 
or the other of the above-mentioned books, 
or in the church press during recent months. 
It is impossible to frankly discuss so prac¬ 
tical a matter without making references to 
what has gone before. However, I do not 
wish any of those personalities, or their 
friends, to feel that they have been singled 

11 


PREFACE 


out for criticism. So far as possible the dis¬ 
cussion bears directly upon the polity, his¬ 
tory, and growth of our church and the men¬ 
tion of books, articles, and personalities is 
incidental to the discussion. 

It is hoped that this book will not be 
looked upon as an appeal from what is called 
“the foreign field” to what is called the 
“home church,” but that it may be regarded 
as a presentation from the angle of the 
church as a whole. 

The volume is purposely written in the 
first person because of a desire to avoid book¬ 
ish expressions, and to speak face to face 
with the church at this hour. 

It has been impossible for the author to 
personally read or revise the proofs because 
of his distance from the publishers’ head¬ 
quarters. The book was written in India. 
Thanks are therefore due friends in New 
York who have read the proofs. 

“Christo et Ecclesiae” 

F. B. F. 

Calcutta, India, September, 1923. 


12 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


CHAPTER I 
THE CROSSROADS 

To the law-court or to the mountain?—Legality or vision 
—Arguments or progress—Contrasts—The greater service 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church—Bishop Neely’s book— 
The Methodist Episcopal Church and its Foreign Missions 
—Criticism by an English friend—Title misleading—Criti¬ 
cism by president of a theological college abroad—Young 
men for counsel and old men for war—Don Quixote—Mr. 
Hutchinson’s Next Step prophetic—Overemphasis upon 
mere names of societies or churches—Philadelphia, what its 
name signifies—Likewise Indianapolis—New York—Meth¬ 
odist—Episcopal—Roman Catholic—Church of England— 
Dutch Reformed—German Lutheran—American or English 
Baptist—Scottish Presbyterian—Names denominate, but do 
not dominate—Surprise at absence of criticism of Bishop 
Neely’s book—Certain sags and reactions explained—Naked 
legality—General Conferences have not been guilty of il¬ 
legal acts—General Conference settles all questions of law 
—Constitution supports acts of General Conference—High 
and challenging missionary motives required—Anchored in 
Harbor of Yesterday, or launched on open sea—General 
Conference did not act blindly, but purposively—Its new 
legislation in line with natural growth—Neither lawbreak¬ 
ers nor stumblers—Methodist development providential— 
Constructive legislators needed—Must advance after man¬ 
ner of God’s will—Confronted by new world situation- 

13 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


The only alternatives—International Christian federation, 
or dismembered church—The two roads—Constitution, 
polity, and history unite in provisions for advance. 


CHAPTER II 

SIGNPOSTS IN THE BOOK OF DISCIPLINE 

Nothing in Discipline limits Methodist Episcopal 
Church to United States of America only—This book 
is accepted throughout world as law of church—So 
interpreted by bishops in Conferences and by district 
superintendents locally—Only book of law translated 
into all the languages—Episcopal address stresses for¬ 
eign growth of church—Declares church is established in 
its organic form in Asia, Africa, and Europe—Declares 
legislation has been revised from time to time to meet de¬ 
mands created by its own activities, and by differing con¬ 
ditions of people among whom it has established itself— 
Historical Statement silent on territorial limitations—If 
membership and Conferences do not enjoy full rights and 
privileges, Discipline should so state—Otherwise they are 
deceived and false expectations are aroused—Constitution 
of church consists only of Articles of Religion, General 
Rules, and Articles of Organization—(Nothing in Constitu¬ 
tion limits expansion to American territory—in fact, 
definite provision is made for foreign growth and allegiance 
to any government—Footnote to Article XXIII—General 
Rules applicable anywhere—Constitution might some day 
be amended so as to permit General Conference to meet 
abroad—Advantages of such procedure—Provisions for 
membership universally applicable—Qualifications for min¬ 
istry fit any country or race—Ministers received into Con¬ 
ferences in South America, Europe, Africa, Asia exactly 

14 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


in same form as in America, and have same privileges— 
Provisions made for holding church property by legal 
deeds in any country—General superintendent bishops as¬ 
signed to foreign residences—Missionary episcopacy not 
compulsory—Expedient only—May or may not have mis¬ 
sionary bishops according to current demands—Action of 
General Conference of 1920 legal—Inquiry as to legality of 
missionary bishops presiding at Annual Conferences—Tech¬ 
nical meaning of word “Mission”—Documentary evidence 
available to show that early General Conferences limited 
their scope—But later General Conferences have expanded 
those provisions—One General Conference has same power 
as another—Policy a matter of growth—Dealing not with 
mechanical structure but with living organism—Constantly 
adapting and enlarging its life—True to early doctrine and 
polity, but capable of adjustment to needs of succeeding 
generations—A proof of our living vitality. 


CHAPTER III 

MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 

Quotations from early General Conference Journals may 
show certain limitations in name—But this not binding to¬ 
day—Church has officially and deliberately expanded— 
Early founders had no conception of even American growth 
—They moved constantly westward, with no thought of 
confining activities to established borders—Asbury’s Jour¬ 
nal—Autobiography of Peter Cartwright—Bishop McKen- 
dree—Conceptions of childhood days not binding in adult¬ 
hood—Methods change—Must now look out upon present 
situation with experienced eyes—Ibsen’s maxim—Stand 
close to future—Remarkable progress in science, invention, 
experience during last century—International General Con- 

15 



OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


ference can now be convened with as great ease as early 
sectional Conferences—Misleading quotations—Canadian 
separation does not establish precedent—Organization of 
Church South outgrowth of particular circumstances—De¬ 
mand of foreign Conferences, or American Conferences, to 
withdraw presents altogether different situation from 
forcible exclusion—No demand on part of Conferences to¬ 
day—They prefer international connectional church, with 
provisions for local autonomy—Individuals and groups have 
no right, constitutional or otherwise, to attempt to dis¬ 
member church—Bona fide members of church have rights 
—Utter length to which narrow nationalism can be car¬ 
ried—Pure nationalism or racialism to be abhorred—Amer¬ 
ican Conferences in no danger of domination by other 
sections—Imaginary goblins excite our fears—Strength and 
position of American Conferences and connectionalism— 
Danger of absolutely independent national churches—Il¬ 
lustration of Indian religious vitality—Buddhist and Mo¬ 
hammedan expansion—Must keep Methodism an interna¬ 
tional, catholic body—Not an imperial church—Isolation 
an anomaly—We must take ourselves as we are. 


CHAPTER IV 
THE DAMASCUS ROAD 

The Christian missionary program—Christ’s Great Com¬ 
mission—Paul made it dynamic—Saul transformed by 
vision on road to Damascus—His life purpose changed— 
This experience the precursor of his journeys to Antioch, 
Macedonia, Rome—The Road of Power—Individuals, na¬ 
tions, churches often changed by vision—God locates and 
selects organizations which have inherent power for heroic 
service—We must not be disobedient to the heavenly vision 

16 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


—Acts 9. 15-16—Paul built early church on twofold Chris¬ 
tian ideal of universal union and local or national liberties 
—Minutes of first great international Church Conference 
or Missionary Convention contained in Acts 15—Pharisaic 
legalists attempted to compel adherence to Jewish ritual— 
Peter became champion of foreign delegates—“God gave 
them the Holy Ghost even as he did unto us, and put no 
difference between us and them,” Acts 15. 8-9—Council 
adopted liberal policy—Messengers sent abroad on com¬ 
mission of reconciliation—They confirmed the new Chris¬ 
tians as members of apostolic church—Paul’s letters proof 
of connectionalism, of early church—He established local 
and provincial churches with central authority maintained 
—Methodist Episcopal Church truly Pauline and apostolic— 
Bishop William Taylor—Bishop James M. Thoburn—John 
Wesley—They all followed apostolic precedent—Methodist 
expansion in India—Church regularly and legally organ¬ 
ized into Annual Conferences, exactly like church in Amer¬ 
ica—They are not missions, but a church—By deliberate 
choice Methodism chose to be international organization— 
Fascinating story of expansion—Melville Cox first mission¬ 
ary to Africa, 1833—Now a regularly organized Meth¬ 
odism in that continent—South America, 1836—Europe, 
1849—Scandinavia, 1853—Switzerland, 1856—Bulgaria, 1857 
—Italy, 1871—Mexico, 1873—Finland, 1883—China was en¬ 
tered in 1847—Japan, 1882—'Korea, 1885—Japan the only 
purely national church—Work in India founded by Wil¬ 
liam Butler in 1856—Remarkable growth—Testimony of 
Bishop Foss—Membership now numbers 421,648—Prophecy 
of Bishop Thoburn, “A million Methodists in India,” soon 
to be realized and surpassed—Courage, vision, endurance re¬ 
quired. 


17 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


CHAPTER V 

THE INEVITABLE GOAL 

Development of indigenous churches in mission fields— 
all denominations busy with this problem—Interdenomina¬ 
tional committees at work—An essential step—Variety of 
Christian expression desirable—Each national church must 
interpret Christ for itself—but sudden and drastic sever¬ 
ance from parent church disastrous—Universal communion 
and fellowship the ideal—The surest road to ultimate unity 
—Pure nationalism divisive—Christianity must transcend 
national or racial hatreds, even in crises—International fel¬ 
lowship imperative—Mr. Hutchinson’s quotation from 
Bishop Bashford—Nationalism and internationalism are not 
mutually exclusive—Methodist catholicity—Episcopal Meth¬ 
odism as distinguished from Roman and Anglican claims— 
John Wesley’s spiritual insight, organizing genius, and 
claims to apostolic authority—Methodist connectionalism al¬ 
lows utmost freedom—Our historic polity adaptable— 
Provision for national churches—Central Conference plan 
—Disciplinary powers—Enlarged by General Conference 
of 1920—Conservative safeguards—Further study of plan 
by General Conference Commission—Plan has been in proc¬ 
ess of development for forty years—New provisions must 
be granted from time to time—Possibility of election of 
national bishops by Central Conference—Other privileges 
desired—Remarkable powers already conferred—General 
supervision of missionary policy of indigenous church— 
Adaptation of Ritual and ceremonies to fit racial aptitudes 
—Extraordinary freedom to develop true national church— 
Vision and wisdom required to take proper advantage of 
such wide liberties—Autonomy and ability must go hand 
in hand—Our work abroad not a collection of Missions, but 
an organic church—Organization abroad does not differ 

18 


OUTLINE OF CHAPTERS 


from that in America—Same rights and privileges in pro¬ 
portion to strength—Missionaries must decrease and na¬ 
tionals increase—Our victories for Christ only beginning. 

CHAPTER VI 

THE ROAD OF THE BURNING HEART 

Our Guide—John Wesley’s heart strangely warmed—The 
disciples en route to Emmaus—Discouragement—Reaction 
—Loss of vision—Return to former life of dead-level ex¬ 
istence—Christ revealed to them—Old visions enthroned— 
Rush back along Road of Burning Heart—Burst into coun¬ 
cil of disciples—Jesus is alive; we have seen him—He 
stands in their midst—The Great Commission—Thus has 
he walked with, and appeared to, millions of followers— 
His presence in our Methodist history and Conferences— 
Scene at election of Negro Bishops—The temerity of legal¬ 
ists who would question and discount that spiritual develop¬ 
ment, and pronounce their election and work illegitimate— 
The turbaned Indians—Sdlk-clad Chinese—Dark-skinned 
Africans—Behold the Man of the nail-pierced hands— 
Those hours of vision were vital realities and demand our 
loyalty—Historian’s backward look—Church is still living 
so biography not yet complete—Glorious chapters ahead— 
Living Christ walks with us—Thomas Curtis Clarke’s The 
Faith of Christ’s Freemen —Jesus himself has been present 
in our General Conferences—No man dare challenge our 
faith in his leadership—The charter of Pentecost and the 
stamp of apostleship upon our work—No claim to infalli¬ 
bility, but to conscious guidance as a church—Motives and 
principles sound—Thomas W. Higginson—History not ma¬ 
chine made—Inspired by high ideals—Purposive with lofty 
aims of God—“This is the way”—“Walk ye in it”—“Lo, I 
am with you”—“To the end.” 

19 










CHAPTER I 
THE CROSSROADS 

A few years ago while on an extended 
tour through one of the interesting coun¬ 
tries of Southern Europe I came to a cross¬ 
roads. A sign at the corner, on being trans¬ 
lated into English, said, “Short Cut to the 
Law Court.” Thinking that the Law Court 
would probably be in the center of a village, 
and being always interested in human life, 
I thought I would take the short cut with 
the hope of arriving at one of those alluring 
European market places with its fascinating 
hum of human voices and its gay, highly col¬ 
ored costumes. Therefore I turned into this 
narrow lane. I had taken but a few steps 
when a sharp pain pierced my foot and I 
stooped down to pluck from the side of my 
shoe a short, thick thorn. On looking about 
I discovered that the lane was lined on either 
side with high thorny hedges. Following this 
experience I walked very cautiously for two 

21 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


or three furlongs and came to an open 
square paved with cobblestones and sur¬ 
rounded with low gray stone buildings. 

In one corner of the square two men were 
holding excited conversation, which soon de¬ 
veloped into a bitter quarrel. In the center 
two men were gesticulating in anger. On 
the veranda of the Law Court was a crowd 
of waiting witnesses, some of them playing 
cards, others throwing dice, while others 
were either languidly sitting or conversing 
with their fellows. Suddenly I heard the 
sound of heavy boots and turned to see a 
prisoner dragged toward the Court by two 
stalwart policemen. The whole sight sick¬ 
ened me. I sought a way of escape, and 
happily saw a sign at a corner of a street, 
which, being translated into English, read, 
“The Road to the Mountain.” With a leap 
of the heart I entered this street and tried 
to forget the commonplace fights which sur¬ 
rounded the temple of legality. Proceeding 
along this street I came into one of those 
white European roadways, found myself 
joined by other pedestrians, and after a few 

22 


THE CROSSROADS 


hours came to the hill top, where there was 
a magnificent view of the valley with its 
winding river, its waving trees, and abun¬ 
dant scent of flowers. 

What a contrast! On that day I reached 
a decision to always try to avoid the thorn- 
scattered alley that leads to mere legality 
and to direct my path toward the mountain 
of vision. 

It is certain that the greater service of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church will lie along 
the road of vision rather than along the alley 
of legal interpretations and requirements. 
At this point Bishop Neely’s book is ex¬ 
tremely disappointing. One of the greatest 
surprises of my twenty years in the Method¬ 
ist ministry has been to note the seeming 
favor with which this book has been received. 
During the reading I had mingled feelings 
of amusement, disappointment, and sadness. 
It fell far below what I anticipated, through 
my knowledge of the author, and because of 
the title of the book. There is not even a 
subtitle to indicate the legal, technical, and 
critical nature of the contents of the book. 

23 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


It puts into the minds of members of other 
denominations certain legal and technical 
criticisms of our work, rather than giving 
them a fair, even though critical, view of our 
progress throughout the world. The book 
is particularly out of place in the mission 
fields, because the whole burden of the 
book is that the Methodist Church is purely 
an American institution, and that the very 
students who study the book should be sev¬ 
ered from organic connection with the 
church and cast adrift as an independent 
national group. 

The time-worn adage, “Old men for coun¬ 
sel and young men for war,” is reversed. 
One author in his eighty-second year rushes 
into war in true Don Quixote fashion, nick¬ 
ing his sword unnecessarily. Mr. Hutchin¬ 
son prophetically presents the significance 
of the present situation. Hence we shall do 
well in this case to take counsel of youth. I 
find myself at variance with the bishop’s 
whole attitude and position, while I am in 
substantial agreement with Mr. Hutchin¬ 
son’s presentation. 


24 


THE CROSSROADS 

The argument of the former is based upon 
the official name or title of the denomination 
and the alleged intention of our forefathers. 
But many practical men might ask, “What’s 
in a name?” Strictly speaking, Philadel¬ 
phia means the “city of brotherly love,” but 
have we not all seen the smoke of ecclesias¬ 
tical combat rising with frequent regularity 
from that quarter? Indianapolis is filled 
with every other people except Indians; a 
solitary Indian walking down its streets will 
attract eager attention. Having seen Old 
York, who would consider New York true to 
its namesake? Take our church name and 
analyze it. “Methodist” was originally given 
to us in derision, but we have changed the 
content of that opprobrium and have made 
it our proud and serious title. “Episcopal,” 
in the dictionary of certain groups, is de¬ 
scriptive only of those churches who hold to 
the historic episcopate and to apostolic suc¬ 
cession. And “church” is a name which a 
certain ecclesiastical body refuses to apply 
to us, claiming that we are a sect only. But 
in spite of all this we have put our own high 

25 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


content into that lovely name, and have en- 
dued it with spiritual implications which 
transcend its technical letters. Looking out 
upon other ecclesiastical names, we find that 
they have expanded beyond original limita¬ 
tions. Is not the “Roman Catholic” Church 
a contradiction in terms if its name is truly 
descriptive? How could a church be con¬ 
fined to one city and yet be universal? The 
“Church of England” did not change its 
name each time the nation made political 
changes. It followed the flag, and has 
pressed out into other parts of the world, 
without successively changing its name to 
the Church of Great Britain, Ireland, Scot¬ 
land, Wales; nor to the Church of the Brit¬ 
ish Commonwealth of Nations, and of the 
world. And, similarly, you may find the 
Dutch Reformed, German Lutheran, Amer¬ 
ican and English Baptist, American and 
Scottish Presbyterian, and the Methodist 
Episcopal Church, South, scattered 
throughout the earth. Names denominate 
individuals and organizations, but do not 
dominate them. They are usually given us 

26 


THE CROSSROADS 


by our parents, who are not expected to see 
the end from the beginning. 

The conclusions of the book cannot be 
proven by the Constitution of the church nor 
by the plain facts of Methodist history. The 
author admits that he was compelled to go 
abroad when the General Conference as¬ 
signed him a foreign residence, even though 
he regarded their action as illegal. Why 
should one obey the voice of an illegal Gen¬ 
eral Conference? A resistance for con¬ 
science’ sake might be more in line with 
proper procedure. As a matter of fact, the 
General Conference is the final authority 
in such matters, and according to para¬ 
graph 42, article 3 of the Discipline all 
“questions of law shall be decided by the 
General Conference.” To argue that the 
General Conference has committed illegal 
acts in assigning general superintendents to 
residence abroad is a reflection both upon the 
General Conference and upon the officers 
who accepted such appointment. To admit 
such a premise would be to stamp all the 
work which seventeen bishops have done this 

27 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


quadrennium as outlawry, and likewise to 
mark with illegitimacy the life-work of 
Christian servants like Bishops Bashford 
and Lewis. It cannot be proven either from 
law or history that the appointment of gen¬ 
eral superintendents to an area surround¬ 
ing New York is any more legal than the 
appointment to Shanghai. They both stand 
exactly upon the same footing. 

Another disappointing thing about the 
volume is that there are no higher and chal¬ 
lenging missionary motives or policies sug¬ 
gested. On the other hand, Mr. Hutchin¬ 
son’s little volume does have the sound of a 
living voice pointing to a New Day. It is 
far better to have the subject approached 
from the standpoint of expensive life than 
from the standpoint of legal restrictions. 
The one anchors our ship in the Harbor of 
Yesterday, while the other launches it on the 
open sea. And we need not fear the divine 
Captain nor the Christian crew. 

I do not agree with Mr. Hutchinson in 
the opening paragraph of his book where he 
indicates that the action taken by the Gen- 

28 


THE CROSSROADS 


eral Conference in 1920 was a blind progres¬ 
sion toward radical alteration in our form of 
church administration. I believe the Gen¬ 
eral Conference acted with its eyes open, and 
that the policy which it adopted was simply 
an expression of our natural growth, and 
was the normal step to be taken. To accept 
Bishop Neely’s contention is to admit that 
we have been deliberate lawbreakers, while 
to accept Mr. Hutchinson’s explanation is 
to confess that we have been ignorant drift¬ 
ers and stumblers. By those who believe in 
the providential character of our missionary 
development neither position can be ac¬ 
cepted. 

There is only one important consideration 
before us in this much debated matter, 
namely, How shall we advance rightly and 
after the manner of God’s will? We do 
not wish to have our development stopped 
by legal restrictions nor do we want it un¬ 
duly accelerated by impracticable dreams. 
The best use to which the church’s legal 
minds can be put is to the drafting of con¬ 
structive and detailed suggestions showing 

29 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


how to approach the adjustment of the Con¬ 
stitution, if adjustment is required, and how 
to change the legislation, if change is neces¬ 
sary, to the new world situation which now 
confronts us, rather than simply to try to 
prove that every step we have taken is con¬ 
trary to law. It is not encouraging to our 
faith to be told that the fields of victory into 
which God has led us have been secured by 
false and insecure methods. 

There are two alternatives before us. 
They are: (1) A world federation made up 
of geographical Central Conferences, with 
vital and voting connections with the Gen¬ 
eral Conference; or (2) A church split and 
separated into a series of national units, 
not officially related the one to the other, 
and constantly developing a national con¬ 
sciousness which in the end nullifies true 
Christian principles. 

These are the two roads before us. Which 
shall we take? Shall it be Retrospect or 
Prospect, Retrograde or Upgrade, Con¬ 
traction or Expansion, Selfish Growth or 
World Service? The succeeding chapters 

30 


THE CROSSROADS 


attempt to show that there is nothing in our 
Constitution, polity, or history which makes 
it impossible for us to develop this world¬ 
wide, interrelated, Christian organization of 
Methodist brotherhood. 


31 


CHAPTER II 


SIGN POSTS IN THE BOOK OF 
DISCIPLINE 

A caeeful study of the Discipline of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, edition of 
1920, reveals a very interesting series of 
facts, and these facts absolutely controvert 
the recent legalistic claims that the Method¬ 
ist Episcopal Church is, has been, and must 
be a Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
United States of America only. It is the 
book of Discipline which finds its way into 
the hands of every ordained minister in the 
various countries of the world. It is the vol¬ 
ume which the bishops interpret in the An¬ 
nual Conferences, and which the Quarterly 
Conferences use as their guide. It is looked 
upon by the church, both in America and 
elsewhere, as the final authority in doctrine 
and government. It has been translated 
into the various major languages of the 

32 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


world, and must therefore be taken as indi¬ 
cating the orderly processes by which we 
have become the church which we are to-day. 

Eighty years ago Robert Emory pub¬ 
lished an interesting volume, History of the 
Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church . 1 The Preface to this old book in¬ 
dicates that the growing ministry of the 
church must of necessity depend upon the 
Discipline , as amended from time to time, 
for legal guidance, inasmuch as the General 
Conference Journals are not often avail¬ 
able, and also because of the power inherent 
in each General Conference to make pro¬ 
gressive changes in our laws and forms. In 
this connection he says: “There is internal 
evidence that the present Discipline was not 
all composed at one time. At what period, 
then, were its several parts introduced, and 
what modifications have they undergone? 
These are points not only of curious inquiry, 
but essential often to right interpretation. 
. . . In our civil governments the statutes 

1 Published by G. Lane and P. P. Sandford, New York, 
1844. 


33 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


are scattered through the several volumes 
of laws, which have been published from 
time to time, and therefore these are all pre¬ 
served. But, in the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, the Discipline, as revised at each 
General Conference, being in itself com¬ 
plete, supplants all that had gone before it, 
and the previous editions are cast aside as 
of no further use. Thus it has continued, 
until now nearly sixty years have elapsed 
since the organization of the church, and the 
Discipline has undergone about twenty dis¬ 
tinct revisions.” 

Certainly, this would indicate that our 
church is in no sense static. It likewise 
points clearly to the fact that the Book of 
Discipline as edited by each succeeding Gen¬ 
eral Conference has always been taken as 
the authority in matters of polity and proce¬ 
dure. Mr. Emory continues: “Where then 
shall the student go to find these suc¬ 
cessive editions? If he resort to the li¬ 
braries of the oldest preachers, they are 
not there:—to the library of The Book 
Concern, they are not there; to the ar- 

34 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


chives of the General Conference, still they 
are not to be found. Despairing of suc¬ 
cess in this pursuit, he may perhaps exam¬ 
ine the Journals of the General Conference 
(though, from the nature of the case, this 
is a privilege which few can enjoy). But 
here he will find that all prior to 1800 are 
missing; and that those subsequent to that 
date convey no accurate information as to 
the changes in the Discipline; because, in 
the alterations, references are made to chap¬ 
ter, section, question, page, etc., which can¬ 
not be understood without having a copy of 
the then Discipline in hand; and because, 
moreover, at each General Conference the 
subsequent publication of the Discipline is 
intrusted to a committee, invested with 
powers (often largely discretionary) as to 
the selection, arrangement, and wording of 
the several parts; and no report of their pro¬ 
ceedings is entered upon the journal.” 2 

It is therefore right that in 1923, when the 
student wishes to know the spirit, purpose, 
and law of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 


2 Page 4. 


35 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


he must have recourse to the current Dis¬ 
cipline, as authorized by the last General 
Conference and edited by its official com¬ 
mittee. 

In the Episcopal Address special atten¬ 
tion is called to the peculiar Constitution and 
administrative rules of our church and to our 
providential growth. This Address is signed 
by all the bishops. Quotations from this 
Address are illuminating. “Evidently 
God’s blessing has been with us, and we have 
seen an extraordinary work extending 
throughout all the United States and Terri¬ 
tories and throughout the British posses¬ 
sions in North America; also the planting of 
successful Missions in South America and 
Mexico. The Methodist Episcopal Church, 
in its organic form and spiritual power, has 
been established in Africa, Asia, and 
Europe, where God has given to it great 
prosperity.” 1 It goes on further to state 
that “during the period in which this work 
has been extending, the church has revised 
its legislation to meet the demands created 

1 Discipline, 1920, pp. 3, 4. 

36 



SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


by its own activities and by the conditions of 
the different peoples among whom it strives 
to build up the Kingdom of God.” 2 This 
does not imply that the real Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church must be located in the United 
States of America only, and that the mem¬ 
bership outside this territory is in different 
and minor relationship. It has the same or¬ 
ganic form and the same vital spiritual 
power , regardless of geographical location. 

The Historical Statement, which has re¬ 
mained in the Discipline through a number 
of quadrenniums, gives no indication what¬ 
ever that the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
organized in 1784, was intended to confine 
itself strictly to the then thirteen colonies of 
the United States of America. It merely 
indicates that it was the origin of the first 
church with an episcopal form of govern¬ 
ment to attain an independent existence in 
the new republic. 

Manifestly, if the membership abroad 
does not have the same rights and privileges 
enjoyed by the American membership, the 

2 lbid.y p. 4. Italics ours. 


37 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


bishops and the editors should have made it 
perfectly plain in these two statements that 
the provisions of the Discipline should not 
be enjoyed in their entirety by the new mem¬ 
bers recruited through missionary efforts. 
It would be both unfair and unwise to.per¬ 
mit the Discipline to deceive them in arous¬ 
ing expectations which were illegal and 
could not be realized. 

The Constitution of the Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church is very definitely stated in the 
preamble to consist of only three divisions: 
first, the Articles of Religion; second, the 
General Rules; third, the Articles of Organ¬ 
ization and Government. Those who have 
committed to memory the twenty-five Arti¬ 
cles of Religion and those who are familiar 
with the history and contents of these Arti¬ 
cles (which every Methodist ought to be) 
will recall that there is only one mention of 
the United States of America. In Article 
XXIII the American form of government 
is expounded and supported, but there is a 
very interesting and illuminating footnote 
to this Article which has remained in succes- 

38 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


sive editions of the Discipline. I will quote 
this footnote for the sake of clarity: 

“As far as it respects civil affairs we be¬ 
lieve it the duty of Christians, and especially 
of all Christian ministers, to be subject to 
the supreme authority of the country where 
they may reside, and to use all laudable 
means to enjoin obedience to the powers that 
be: and therefore it is expected that all our 
preachers and people, who may be under the 
British or any other government, will be¬ 
have themselves as peaceable and orderly 
subjects.” 3 

Evidently, it is expected that we shall 
continue to have regular work outside the 
territory of the United States. In fact, in 
quite early days we had organized work in 
Canada, New Foundland, Nova Scotia, and 
the West Indies. These sections were all 
under the British flag, but it is very signifi¬ 
cant that those four important words are in¬ 
serted —“or any other government ” This 
note has been used to very great advantage 
in different countries, such as Japan, India, 


3 Discipline, 1920, p. 33. 


39 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


and other Asiatic and European nations 
during the days of war and agitation. It 
has never been supposed that all the mem¬ 
bers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
would be citizens of, nor subject to, the po¬ 
litical sway of the United States of America. 

It is passing strange that Bishop Neely 
quoted the Twenty-third Article of Religion 
as proving that the church recognized its 
strict allegiance to the American republic, 
but he made no reference whatever to the 
official Disciplinary footnote with reference 
to loyalty to other nations when citizens or 
residents thereof. This could not have been 
an oversight because the note occupies so 
prominent a position in the Discipline and 
has been of such significance in our history. 
To claim that this Article has remained the 
same through all the years and not even 
mention the footnote is strange indeed. 

Examining the General Rules, which 
form division number four of the Constitu¬ 
tion, one does not find even the suggestion 
of the thought that these General Rules ap¬ 
ply to America only. As a matter of fact, 

40 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


the only mention of the territory is in para¬ 
graph twenty-seven, where it speaks of the 
rise of the united societies first in Europe 
and then in America. In describing what 
such a society is there is no geographical 
tinge. It simply states that a Methodist 
society is “a company of men having the 
form and seeking the power of godliness, 
united in order to pray together, to receive 
the word of exhortation, and to watch over 
one another in love that they may help each 
other to work out their salvation ” This 
sort of society is potent and helpful in every 
country and every clime regardless of race 
or political condition. 

In the third division of the Constitution, 
dealing with the Articles of Organization 
and Government, there is no suggestion that 
pastoral charges can only be organized in 
the United States, and there is no inhibition 
against the organization of Quarterly Con¬ 
ferences in any country in the world. The 
Annual Conference is described without any 
reference to territorial limitation; and in 
the thoroughgoing chapter on “The General 

41 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Conference” there is nothing which suggests 
that the church is in any way limited to one 
country or one government. 

The only mention of the United States 
is in the provision that the General Con¬ 
ference may meet at any place in the United 
States of America, determined upon by the 
preceding General Conference or its regu¬ 
larly appointed commission, and this was in¬ 
serted not so much with the thought of for¬ 
ever limiting it to the United States, as to 
lift it out of the one city of Baltimore, with 
the thought that it might legally and profit¬ 
ably meet in other centers and sections as 
well. The day may come in the development 
of our great church when this Article in the 
Constitution will be amended so that the 
General Conference may meet in Europe or 
Asia or any other section of the world to 
which our church may elect to go. It would 
be an inspiring and challenging event to let 
the General Conference meet some day in 
Tokyo or Calcutta. Think of the educa¬ 
tional value of such a move. Hundreds of 
delegates and visitors would go back to their 

42 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


respective homes fired with a new enthusi¬ 
asm, stirred with a new missionary passion, 
and instructed in the ways of other nations. 
It would greatly help to break down the 
prejudices, racial and national, which have 
been in evidence in the past. I am not par¬ 
ticularly pressing for an immediate attempt 
to amend the Constitution so as to make this 
possible, but I suggest it as a vision of what 
might some day be a blessing to the world¬ 
wide kingdom of God. 

Coming to that section of the Discipline 
which deals with legislation and which has 
to do with church membership, worship, and 
the organization of the various Conferences, 
General, Annual, Lay, Central, Mission, 
District, and Quarterly, there is not the 
slightest indication that the membership of 
the organized church shall be confined to one 
nationality. As a matter of fact, hundreds 
and thousands of members have been regu¬ 
larly and constantly received into the Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church in all sections of 
the world by the use of the ritual provided 
in the Discipline, and their status is exactly 

4a 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


the same as that of any member residing in 
any State in America. 

Those important paragraphs which have 
to do with the qualifications of preach¬ 
ers are applicable to every nationality. 
Never in all my ministry have I had greater 
liberty, or a greater consciousness of the 
leadership of the Holy Spirit, than when 
preaching in Asiatic Annual Conferences on 
these remarkable paragraphs on ministerial 
conduct and ideals. Ministers have been re¬ 
ceived into Annual Conferences on trial, and 
finally into full connection, in China, Ma¬ 
laysia, India, Africa, and Europe in exactly 
the same way as is done in the Annual Con¬ 
ferences in America. The same ritual and 
ordination service is used, the same episcopal 
presidency is provided, the same assignments 
to work are made. Who shall say that only 
ministers received in America are bona fide 
preachers of the gospel under the direction 
of our church, and that these thousands of 
ministers received in all sincerity throughout 
the world are either outlaws or outcastes? 
They have the same rights of trial and they 

44 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


have the same right to elect their delegates, 
in proportion to their membership, to the 
General Conference. Not unless the Con¬ 
stitution of the church is changed by drastic 
amendment can these lay members or min¬ 
isters be disfranchised or deprived of their 
rights. They are members in good and full 
standing. They represent rich fruit which 
God has given us through the years. If you 
turn to the course of study, your eyes will 
open in wonder as you see the various lan¬ 
guages in which the courses of study have 
been printed for the training of our minis¬ 
ters. The major languages of the world 
are represented. 

In looking at the Disciplinary provisions 
for the organization of the connectional 
boards of the church one is struck by the ab¬ 
sence of references to geographical bound¬ 
aries. In such a legal and restrictive charter 
as that provided for the trustees of the Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church with headquarters 
at Cincinnati, the Discipline fails to state 
that it is the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in the United States of America. The gen- 

45 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


eral name alone is mentioned without the ter¬ 
ritorial restriction. 

In the paragraphs dealing with local 
preachers, exhorters, and deaconesses there 
is no suggestion that these varied Christian 
activities are open only to Americans within 
American territory. The forms are appli¬ 
cable anywhere in the world. 

In such an important item as the Deeds 
for Church Property one finds that the 
property is to be registered according to the 
laws of the State or territory within which 
the property is located. And it is signifi¬ 
cant that in paragraph 346, the words “or 
country” are used in contradistinction to 
American States and territories, thus def¬ 
initely signifying the expectation that 
property will be held and registered in the 
name of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
other countries than the United States, and 
making legal provision therefor. Thus 
official provision is made for the holding of 
property by local constituencies anywhere 
in the world. In the official title suggested 
for deeds it simply states the “Methodist 

46 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


Episcopal Church,” without other restric¬ 
tions as to name or territory. 

The Annual Conferences in all countries 
have their boundaries listed in the book of 
Discipline along with the various American 
Conferences, and in the outline of General 
Conference Districts, all Conferences and 
Mission Conferences are listed together in 
groups. 

One may go through the official Discipline 
from beginning to end without being im¬ 
pressed that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church is exclusively an American church. 
In fact, the impression is given in every 
chapter that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, having originated in the United 
States of America, has become world-wide 
in its organization, membership, and inter¬ 
ests. 

With reference to the contention that it 
is illegal to assign general superintendents 
to residence abroad, and that the only legal 
provision for the administration of work on 
the mission field is the missionary episco¬ 
pacy, I would like to raise a question which 

47 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


has evidently been overlooked in the entire 
discussion. In paragraph 46, section 3, con¬ 
taining the Restrictive Rules, making it im¬ 
possible for the General Conference to do 
away with episcopacy or to destroy the 
plan of itinerant general superintendency, 
there is the following provision: It “may 
elect a missionary bishop or superintendent 
for any of our foreign missions, limiting his 
episcopal jurisdiction to the same respec¬ 
tively.” It is not, therefore, a compulsory 
legislation requiring, or even suggesting, 
that foreign-mission territories must be ad¬ 
ministered by missionary bishops, but sim¬ 
ply that, since the Restrictive Rule requires 
that the general superintendents travel at 
large throughout the connection, the Gen¬ 
eral Conference may relieve them of the 
necessity and the strain of world-wide travel, 
by electing missionary bishops, if it so de¬ 
sires, to administer the work in certain fields. 
But to these missionary bishops the Restric¬ 
tive Rule does not apply. They are to ad¬ 
minister only in the field for which they are 
elected. 


48 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


It is, therefore, not by any means a neces¬ 
sity but an expedient to be used when de¬ 
sired. The General Conference of 1920 de¬ 
cided that it was not then desirable to take 
advantage of this liberty. Therefore, in 
regular order, it proceeded separately to 
elect the then missionary bishops to the gen¬ 
eral super intendency, and then to elect 
only general superintendents, assigning the 
residences, both in America and elsewhere, 
according to the judgment of the delegates. 
If, of course, at any time a future General 
Conference should wish to avail itself of this 
expedient, it will have a perfect right to elect 
such missionary bishops as it may deem wise, 
and thereby once again relieve the general 
superintendents from the necessity of an¬ 
nual travel throughout the entire world¬ 
wide connection. It should be clearly noted, 
however, that an expedient is altogether a 
different thing from a necessitous rule. 

It would be interesting to raise another 
question in passing. Paragraph 78 requires 
that a bishop shall preside in the Annual 
Conference. This means presumably a 

49 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 

general superintendent, because the Dis¬ 
cipline elsewhere explicitly explains that a 
missionary bishop is not, and must not be 
regarded as, a general superintendent. 
Paragraph 78 further provides that in case 
no bishop is present at an Annual Confer¬ 
ence, the Conference shall elect, by ballot 
without debate, a president from among its 
elders. Can, therefore, a missionary bishop 
preside at an Annual Conference? It is 
stated that a bishop must preside, and makes 
no provision for that bishop to appoint a 
missionary bishop to supply his place in case 
of absence. Other provisions are made. In 
paragraph 96 it is required that a bishop, 
presumably a general superintendent, shall 
preside at a Mission Conference, and in case 
no bishop is present, the superintendent will 
preside. In the technical meaning of Meth¬ 
odist phraseology a “Mission” is neither a 
Mission Conference nor an Annual Confer¬ 
ence. It has exactly the same Disciplinary 
status as a District Conference. This is pro¬ 
vided for in paragraph 421, section 2. Sec¬ 
tion 1 in this paragraph speaks of a “Mis- 

50 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


sion” as being established in a foreign coun¬ 
try outside of an Annual Conference. It 
may, therefore, be worth while to raise the 
technical question as to whether a mission¬ 
ary bishop, strictly speaking, was intended 
to be merely the superintendent of a “Mis¬ 
sion” and not for presidency at Annual and 
Mission Conferences. If this should be true, 
then there would be little place for a mission¬ 
ary bishop in most of our mission fields, be¬ 
cause they are organized into Annual and 
Mission Conferences. This point is not a 
maj or consideration, but is merely presented 
in passing, so as to raise the inquiry as to 
whether missionary bishops have been acting 
illegally in presiding over Annual and Mis¬ 
sion Conferences, and whether the General 
Conferences were guilty of illegal action in 
assigning missionary bishops to general epis¬ 
copal supervision for other forms of organ¬ 
ization than “Missions.” That a “Mission” 
is a distinct entity altogether different from 
Annual or Mission Conferences is made evi¬ 
dent in paragraph 421, section 3, in the pro¬ 
vision that a Mission may, by an Enabling 

51 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Act, be allowed to organize itself, under cer¬ 
tain restrictions, into a Mission Conference 
or an Annual Conference. 

By going back to certain of the technical 
actions of the early General Conferences it 
would be possible for a legal mind to find 
primitive enactments which might seem to 
indicate that the General Conferences dur¬ 
ing the last fifty years have provided a much 
more expansive and liberal ecclesiastical or¬ 
ganization than was at first intended. But 
it must be borne in mind that each succeed¬ 
ing General Conference has had exactly the 
same authority to enact new policies, and to 
expand old provisions, and to interpret the 
law, as had the Christmas Conference in 
1784 to perfect an organization, and as had 
the first delegated General Conference to 
enact provisions at that date. We are deal¬ 
ing not with a cast-iron, mechanical struc¬ 
ture, but with a living organism which, like 
every other living thing, keeps constantly 
adapting and enlarging its life and power. 
One of the most remarkable ecclesiastical 
phenomena in church history is the way in 

52 


SIGN POSTS IN THE DISCIPLINE 


which the Methodist Episcopal Church has 
remained true to its early doctrines and pol¬ 
ity, and has yet been able to adjust itself to 
the new generations as they have come and 
gone. This is a proof of its living vitality. 


53 


CHAPTER III 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 

It is readily admitted that by quotations 
from the Journals of 1784,1796, 1818, 1848, 
or even as late of 1864, it is possible to show 
documents indicating that the official name 
of the church was “The Methodist Episco¬ 
pal Church in the United States of Amer¬ 
ica.” But even though it could be absolutely 
proven that the church consciously began as 
an organization limiting itself to the United 
States of America, the history of the de¬ 
nomination shows that by deliberate choice 
the church has enlarged its borders and lived 
a life of constant expansion. 

The Christmas Conference in 1784 had 
no conception of the coming American ex¬ 
pansion westward, but Francis Asbury’s 
whole life was spent, not only in conserving 
the interests of the church as already estab¬ 
lished along the Atlantic seaboard, but in 

54 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


extending our borders ever westward into 
the wilderness. Bishop McKendree, his itin¬ 
erant associate, seconded him in this west¬ 
ward movement. In many places these no¬ 
ble itinerant bishops and itinerant preach¬ 
ers preceded the government itself into the 
wilderness, preaching in isolated cabins and 
pioneer camps. And wherever they went 
they established societies and organized reg¬ 
ular circuits and Conferences. Asbury’s 
Journal , Peter Cartwright’s autobiography, 
and any history of Methodism will show the 
inspiring record of this early expansion. 
They had not the slightest idea of confining 
the church to the boundaries already fixed. 

The whole argument based on the child¬ 
hood days of the church is beside the point. 
The parent is the authority for the child, but 
not for the man. There is respect and love 
between the parent and the adult son or 
daughter, but not the sense of obedience or 
authority on either side. Our church has 
grown with almost unprecedented rapidity 
throughout the world. The new Confer¬ 
ences and members are now coequals in au- 

55 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


thority, in proportion to their strength and 
representation in the General Conference. 

Methods change. In the Journals of the 
early Conferences one notices that the ques- 
tion-and-answer style of parliamentary pro¬ 
cedure was used. In this manner the busi¬ 
ness was conducted and the minutes kept. 
But now our General Conference has 
grown to larger proportions, and is con¬ 
ducted in modern parliamentary fashion. 
Even Bishop Neely’s book on Parlia¬ 
mentary Practice does not consider it neces¬ 
sary, in these modern days, to deal with the 
question-and-answer method. So in other 
things, such as boards, societies, national and 
international organization, there has been 
considerable development. In discussing 
the conditions which confront us to-day our 
safety is not in returning to the conditions 
of childhood. We are full grown and must 
look out upon the world through experi¬ 
enced eyes. 

Ibsen said, “That man is right who stands 
closest to the future.” To try to view the 
world to-day, and our Christian relation to 

56 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


it, in terms of the vision, knowledge, or ex¬ 
perience of those great founders of our 
church who lived and wrought a hundred 
and fifty years ago, would be utterly foolish. 
The world has had its most marvelous 
growth in many ways since then. Some one 
has reminded us that in 1773 there was no 
United States; and about one half of what is 
now the United States belonged to Spain, 
and the other half to England. New York 
city had less than twenty-five thousand in¬ 
habitants, and Boston and Philadelphia had 
less than twenty thousand each. Chicago 
and San Francisco and Los Angeles were 
not in existence. There was no Germany, 
and France was a monarchy. The interior 
of Africa was absolutely unknown to the 
civilized world, and Japan was scarcely more 
than a myth to European scholars. Within 
a century there have come the locomotive, 
the steamer, the telegraph, the camera, the 
telephone, the wireless, the dirigible, the 
aeroplane, the radio, the automobile, steel¬ 
framed buildings, the gramophone, the type¬ 
writer ; and a thousand other mechanical in- 

57 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


ventions which have changed the modes of 
human life. Points of contact can be estab¬ 
lished now with China, or Africa, in less time 
than Francis Asbury could travel his small¬ 
est Methodist circuit a hundred and fifty 
years ago. With the modern appliances of 
travel and communication, and the wealth 
of the church, an international General Con¬ 
ference can be convened with relatively as 
little toil and inconvenience as was the 
Christmas Conference of 1784. 

“The world advances and, in time, outgrows 
The laws which in our fathers’ days were best.” 

It is entirely misleading to quote from 
the General Conference of 1828 the action 
with reference to the separation of the Cana¬ 
dian Conference as a proof of the contention 
that the Methodist Episcopal Church must 
be forever confined to the territory of the 
government of the United States of Amer¬ 
ica. They did not deny the right of citizens 
of another government to be members of the 
church. The Canadian section desired sep¬ 
aration, and in response to this demand the 

58 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


General Conference sanctioned the separa¬ 
tion. In order fully to explain the manner 
in which this came about it would be neces¬ 
sary to take into account the history of the 
times. The United States of America had 
become an independent government, as the 
result of a war with Great Britain, and dur¬ 
ing those days there was always misunder¬ 
standing between the two peoples. The 
War of 1812 accentuated the sense of sep¬ 
arateness. The Canadian Methodists were 
citizens of the British kingdom, therefore 
when the demand for separation became par¬ 
ticularly strong it was only natural that the 
General Conference took the action it did, 
namely: 

“Whereas the Canadian Annual Confer¬ 
ence, situated in the province of Upper 
Canada, under a foreign government, have, 
in their memorial, presented to this Confer¬ 
ence the difficulties under which they labor 
in consequence of their union with a foreign 
ecclesiastical government, and setting forth 
their desire to be set off as a separate church 
establishment; and whereas, this General 

59 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Conference disclaim all right to exercise ec¬ 
clesiastical jurisdiction under such circum¬ 
stances, except by mutual agreement ,” 1 etc. 

The three points to be stressed in this case 
are: first, the foreign Conference demanded 
separation; second, peculiar circumstances 
surrounded this particular case; and third, 
the General Conference simply refused to 
force ecclesiastical jurisdiction upon peoples 
of another government except by mutual 
agreement . 

This interpretation presents a totally dif¬ 
ferent viewpoint from that which would at¬ 
tempt to take that circumstance as an ab¬ 
solute proof that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was, and must forever remain, a 
body limited to the territory of the United 
States of America. The church in India, 
in China, in Europe, in Africa, in South 
America has not asked nor demanded sep¬ 
aration. It has not come to the place where 
it even hints that its connection with this 
international (and American) institution is 

1 Neely, The Methodist Episcopal Church and Its Foreign 
Missions , p. 76. 


60 



MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


embarrassing. It is, therefore, gratuitous to 
offer the suggestion that they really cannot 
legally belong to our denomination, and to 
quote a particular circumstance, such as the 
Canadian, in proof of the contention. 

As a matter of fact, certain of the dele¬ 
gates who were present at the General Con¬ 
ference which sanctioned the Canadian sep¬ 
aration were compelled to defend their ac¬ 
tion. Their defense was that the Confer¬ 
ence regarded the compact between the 
mother church and the brethren in Canada 
as of a voluntary character. The time hav¬ 
ing arrived “when they were no longer will¬ 
ing to receive or accept of our labors and 
superintendence” they requested the with¬ 
drawal of American cooperation and affilia¬ 
tion, and the General Conference acceded 
to this demand. The case would have been 
altogether different had the initiative been 
taken by the United States citizens them¬ 
selves, and had they demanded that the Can¬ 
adian citizens be expelled from the church. 

It was the temper engendered by war 
which separated the American societies from 

61 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Mr. Wesley’s United Society in Great Brit¬ 
ain. The growth of independence, intensi¬ 
fied by another war, separated the church 
in Canada. Controversial issues caused the 
Southern Conferences to dissociate them¬ 
selves from their brethren. In each case it 
was by the desire of the separatists. And 
Japan, though unattended by international 
strife, desired and demanded independence. 
In none of these cases were large units sum¬ 
marily dismissed because they were not con¬ 
sidered lawful members of the church. It 
was not because they were foreigners in one 
case that they were peacefully released, nor 
because they were Americans in another 
case that they were opposed. Each develop¬ 
ment was the outgrowth of a particular set 
of circumstances, and cannot be urged as 
precedents which would justify establishing 
territorial limitations to-day. 

In this connection the quotation from the 
General Conference of 1848 with reference 
to the establishment of the Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church, South, can be made very mis¬ 
leading. That Conference was reconsider- 

62 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


ing the action of 1844, and after a strenu¬ 
ous debate was led to pronounce upon the 
constitutionality of certain actions of its pre¬ 
decessor. But did the General Conference 
of 1848 have more authority per se than the 
one of 1844? Each was supreme in its own 
hour. In 1848 it was declared, “Nor has the 
said General Conference, or any individual, 
or any number of individuals, any right, 
constitutionally or otherwise, to extend of¬ 
ficial sanction to any act tending directly or 
indirectly to the dismemberment of the 
church .” 2 The significant thing in this ac¬ 
tion is not the circumstance that the new 
church happened to be within the territory of 
the United States of America, and therefore 
the General Conference reversed the action 
of its predecessor, but the disaffected Con¬ 
ferences had withdrawn and set up a totally 
new and independent church. Therefore the 
Methodist Episcopal Church contended its 
right to retain all members, even in the terri¬ 
tory claimed by the new church, who had not 
definitely withdrawn and identified them- 

2 General Conference Journal, 1848, p. 164. 

63 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


selves with the new organization. For this 
reason the Methodist Episcopal Church was 
not willing to confine its activities to a sec¬ 
tion of the United States. Its itinerant 
preachers claimed the right to serve univer¬ 
sally so far as territory was concerned. The 
autobiography of Peter Cartwright is par¬ 
ticularly illuminating at this point, because 
he was one of the vigorous champions of this 
policy. 

A General Conference to-day might be 
constrained to take the same attitude if a 
group of Conferences in any section of the 
United States, or in the Philippines, or 
China, or India, or Europe, should hold a 
separate General Conference and organize 
themselves into an independent church. It 
is conceivable that there might be a large 
body of Filipinos, Chinese, Indians, or 
Europeans who would wish to retain their 
membership in the old church. And we 
might feel compelled to continue the shep¬ 
herding of these flocks, because there is no 
way by which their membership in the church 
can be dissolved except by voluntary with- 

64 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


drawal or by a trial for violation of the 
church law. 

In this connection it might occur to many 
that the contention of the above-mentioned 
General Conference is applicable to-day: 
“nor has the General Conference, or any in¬ 
dividual, or any number of individuals, any 
right, constitutionally or otherwise, to ex¬ 
tend official sanction to any act tending di¬ 
rectly or indirectly to the dismemberment of 
the church ” This would equally apply to 
any individual who now seeks to disfranchise 
or disown bona fide members of our church 
who happen to be citizens of other countries, 
but who prize their spiritual and organic re¬ 
lationship to this great church. 

We need the vision which these fellow 
members can impart, and they need our 
counsel and cooperation. We are brothers 
by spiritual birth and the sense of that broth¬ 
erhood must not be lost. 

The utter length to which this claim to 
narrow, national exclusiveness and power 
can be carried, is found in words like these: 
“And so, if it takes on more mission fields 

65 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


abroad, or loses all its foreign Missions, the 
church remains the same Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church in the United States of Amer¬ 
ica .” 3 God pity the church in the United 
States of America under such circumstances. 
Any such dismemberment of our world-wide 
organization and spiritual brotherhood 
would set the Church of Jesus Christ back 
by a hundred years. It would turn the life 
of American Methodism inward. Her 
growth would be selfish. The canker would 
gnaw at her very heart. She would become 
full of national, racial, and ecclesiastical 
pride, and would die from overfeeding and 
self-indulgence. Take away the missionary 
passion and sacrifice that burns to carry the 
gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation within 
the reach of our resources, and to gather 
them into fellowship with us, and you have 
cut the nerve of spiritual growth and bless¬ 
ing. 

There is no need of setting up any sort of 
goblin to excite our fears with regard to the 

3 Neely, The Methodist Episcopal Church and Its Foreign 
Missions, pp. 183-184. 


66 



MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


possibility of the church abroad becoming so 
powerful that it will suddenly control the 
very destinies of the American Conferences. 
The implication that the foreign member¬ 
ship must either forever be governed by a 
church in the United States of America, or 
that the church in America must be gov¬ 
erned by the foreign Conferences, is an at¬ 
tempt to force one of two alternatives when 
neither of them is in danger of being real¬ 
ized. In a church made up of world-wide 
constituencies, with local Quarterly Confer¬ 
ences, Annual Conferences, and regional 
Central Conferences, there is no reason why 
each national section cannot develop along 
the line of its own characteristics and genius. 
Neither the one church nor the other need 
rule. They will all rule, side by side, in true 
Christian spirit. The very size, homogene¬ 
ous character, economic strength, traditions, 
and power of the American constituency are 
a guarantee against foreign domination. 
How much easier it would be to have a unity 
of purpose among the millions in the Amer¬ 
ican membership than to bring about an ab- 

67 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


solute solidarity among Europe, India, 
China, and Africa! 

Suppose that the day should come when 
there would be as many millions of members 
in India as there are in America. Will the 
American section be in any greater danger 
of absorption or domination by the Indian 
section, than if such a huge membership 
should grow in India and be an independent 
church? Each independent church would 
feel the call of the “great commission” to go 
into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature. The spiritual power in the 
independent Indian church might, two or 
three centuries hence, be so dynamic as to 
cause it to send missionaries throughout the 
whole world. Suppose the independent In¬ 
dian Methodist Church should feel that its 
grasp of the Spirit of Christ was so much 
greater than the American Methodist 
Church, that it would send hundreds and 
thousands of Indian missionaries into Amer¬ 
ica. There would be, under those circum¬ 
stances, a far greater opportunity to influ¬ 
ence certain of the American constituencies 

68 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 


and to undermine the power of the localized 
church than were American Methodists and 
Indian Methodists conscious of Christian 
solidarity, both trusting each other and co¬ 
operating in world-wide endeavor. It need 
not be argued that the possibility of such 
missionary development on the part of India 
is a wild assertion, because it should be borne 
in mind that Indian Mohammedanism has 
captured the island empires in the Malaysian 
Archipelago. Practically a hundred per 
cent of the population of Java is Mohamme¬ 
dan of the Indian type. It must also be re¬ 
membered that Buddhism arose in India 
and, through Indian missionaries, spread it¬ 
self through Burma, Siam, China, and Ja¬ 
pan. Why not keep the Indian, the Afri¬ 
can, the Chinese, and the European Method¬ 
ists within our one great church, so that all 
the fine, high qualities that will be developed 
by each may be shared by all? 

To say that we must either be exclusively 
a national American church, or become a 
church exactly like Rome, is making a state¬ 
ment which does not take into account any 

69 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


of the facts in the situation, but which merely 
appeals to certain Protestant convictions 
against the Roman organization. I speak 
frankly when I say that I would far rather 
be a member of the Roman Catholic Church, 
in spite of all its autocratic assumption of 
power, than to be a member of a little, sec¬ 
tional church, which is not big enough to take 
into its vision and membership representa¬ 
tives of any other races or nations. In spite 
of all the errors of Romanism it must be said 
that it is powerful in its influence politically, 
socially, and religiously, because it is so uni¬ 
versal. But it is not necessary for me to be 
a member of the Roman Church in order to 
belong to a catholic body. My own Method¬ 
ist Church is catholic. Our traditions, our 
polity, our ideals, our history have all helped 
to make us so. We do not have a Pope, nor 
do we need to elect one, in order to be an or¬ 
ganization of world-wide extent. I shall en¬ 
deavor to show in the fifth chapter that our 
Methodist polity provides every facility for 
democratic, international, organic union, 
and for national independence and growth. 

70 


MILE POSTS IN OUR HISTORY 

It is not an imperial church for which I 
plead. God forbid. I am no disciple of im¬ 
perialism in any form. What we must seek 
is an organic union of self-respecting con¬ 
stituencies in all parts of the world and 
among all races. Our missionaries are not 
sent out for Christian conquest, they are not 
to go to the tropics or the Orient for the pur¬ 
pose of adding so many provinces to the ter¬ 
ritory of an ambitious church with imperial 
aspirations. They are sent to carry the truth 
of Christ and the story of his redemption to 
the ends of the earth, and they are to go in 
the spirit of service, brotherhood, and good 
will. 

But a part of the redemptive purpose of 
Christ is to gather the Christians of all the 
world into communion and fellowship in 
him. An isolated individual Christian, not 
in communion with other Christians, is a 
contradiction in terms; an isolated local 
church is an anomaly; an isolated national 
church, confined to one nation and not in 
communion with other Christians, is a curse. 

We are, whether we wish it or not, an in- 

71 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


ternational church, regularly and legally es¬ 
tablished in the various countries of the 
world. What we have on our hands is not 
a legal or theoretical judgment as to what 
the early fathers intended us to be, but the 
character which through a long series of 
years, and by conscious choice, we have de¬ 
veloped. We must therefore take ourselves 
as we are. 


72 


i 


CHAPTER IV 
THE DAMASCUS ROAD 

The Christian missionary program was 
foreshadowed in Christ’s great commission 
to go into all the world and preach the gos¬ 
pel to every creature. But it did not take 
on dynamic power until Saul was set on tire 
by the vision on the Damascus road. He 
did not set out along that road with the idea 
of doing Christian missionary work, but on 
the way a “light from heaven shined round 
about.” It was not the road to Macedonia, 
nor to Antioch, nor to Rome, but it was the 
unexpected road to the power which made 
all these other highways glorious with serv¬ 
ice and redemption. Many a time an indi¬ 
vidual has started down some lane or street 
that was intended to be the way to a selfish 
goal, and has been halted by a “voice from 
heaven” saying, “Go into the city and it shall 
be told thee what thou shalt do.” And many 

73 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


a nation, and even a church, has fenced itself 
around with certain national or denomina¬ 
tional limitations. But in the midst of its 
journey toward power it has found it “hard 
to kick against the pricks,” and has “trem¬ 
bled with astonishment,” saying, “Lord, 
what wilt thou have me to do?” Sometimes 
it is as sinful to live a little life, or to seek 
a selfish goal, as it is to “breathe out threat- 
enings.” God has a way of locating indi¬ 
viduals and organizations which have in 
them inherent power for heroic service, and 
lifting them out of themselves into new life- 
channels. Blessed is that man, or church, 
or nation, whether consciously or innocently 
walking down the Damascus road, which 
hears God’s voice, and experiences a change, 
and follows the vision. To him who is “not 
disobedient unto the heavenly vision,” God 
says, “Thou art ‘a chosen vessel unto me, to 
bear my name before the Gentiles , and 
kings , and the children of Israel: for I will 
show’ you ( how great things’ you c must suf¬ 
fer for my name’s sake ’ ” x 


1 Acts 9. 15-16. 


74 



THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


Paul’s Damascus vision never faded. 
Trial and persecution, success and pride, all 
failed to turn him aside. He built the first 
great connectional Christian church of all 
history. And he built it on the twofold 
Christian ideal of universal union in Christ, 
with national liberty in non-essentials. This 
foundation has proved lasting. 

The minutes of the first international Gen¬ 
eral Conference, or missionary convention, 
are found in the fifteenth chapter of the Acts 
of the Apostles. Paul and his fellow 
missionaries had gone back to the church 
council at Jerusalem to demand certain 
rights for the new foreign churches. The 
fact that he personally referred it to the 
apostles at Jerusalem is proof that with all 
his independence he regarded the Christian 
Church as connectional everywhere. Cer¬ 
tain legalists had disturbed the minds of his 
new converts by demanding that they con¬ 
form to Jewish rites. And even in the coun¬ 
cil at Jerusalem “there rose up certain of the 
sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, 
That it was needful to circumcise them, and 

75 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


to command them to keep the law of 
Moses .” 2 

But Peter championed the cause of the 
delegates from the mission fields, declaring 
that in spite of their resistance to Jewish 
rites, God gave “them the Holy Ghost, even 
as he did unto us; and put no difference be¬ 
tween us and them .” 3 And he eloquently 
demanded that no unbearable yoke be put 
upon them. And the council adopted a gen¬ 
erous policy toward the new churches, and 
sent a commission to visit them and to ex¬ 
plain the liberties granted. The preamble 
to the charter said, “It seemed good to the 
Holy Ghost and to us.” That is the secret 
of apostolic power. The decision of this 
great historic council settled for all time the 
international character of the Christian 
churches. And Judas and Silas, the proph¬ 
ets sent as the mssengers from Jerusalem, 
not only preached to the new Asiatic Chris¬ 
tians but they “confirmed them.” This and 
the Epistles of Paul settle forever the con- 


2 Acts 15. 5. 

3 Acts 15. 8-9. 


76 



THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


nectional organization which united these 
scattered churches. The fifteenth chapter 
of the Acts of the Apostles is inspiringly 
interesting to all students of Christian 
polity. 

Paul touched practically the entire Ro¬ 
man Empire, moving from one province to 
another, not merely preaching but gather¬ 
ing the new members into small groups for 
instruction, training, and mutual help. He 
definitely related the several groups to each 
other and to himself. In the history of the 
apostolic church we find that one of its great¬ 
est characteristics was the ability of the 
apostles to leave behind them an organiza¬ 
tion which gathered the new Christians to¬ 
gether in classes. This made the church a 
power in every province. It was not only 
the truth preached, but this new organiza¬ 
tion that made early Christianity dominant. 
The members of Csesar’s household were 
converted. But suppose after conversion 
there had been no fellowship with any 
other Christians, and suppose there had 
been no connection with other Christian 

77 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


groups. They would have vanished like 
water sucked up by desert sand. It 
would have been utterly impossible for 
them to live as individuals in the midst of 
heathen surroundings. But when a few 
of the members of Csesar’s household were 
not only converted, but organized into a 
class for Christian testimony and Christian 
conference, power was multiplied. Let them 
lay plans for the winning of their neighbors, 
and the situation is altogether different. It 
was this that undermined the very power of 
Cassar and made the lowly Nazarene the con¬ 
queror of emperors. This is the history of 
successful missionary effort during the en¬ 
tire Christian era and throughout the world. 

Methodism is founded on this Pauline sys¬ 
tem and breathes its spirit. Our apostles 
have pushed out everywhere with enviable 
enthusiasm, evangelistic fervor, and organ¬ 
izing efficiency. Wherever they have gone 
they have organized churches. Bishop Wil¬ 
liam Taylor was a true Pauline Methodist. 
His brilliant prototype, Bishop James M. 
Thoburn, was in the true apostolic succes- 

78 


THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


sion. With intrepidity, eloquence, prophetic 
vision, and continuous energy, he traveled 
throughout Asia, with Calcutta as the base 
of operations, covering the whole Peninsula 
of Hindustan, which is as large as the 
United States east of Saint Louis. He 
toured Burma, the Malay Peninsula, 
Borneo, Java, and the Philippine Islands, a 
territory—from Quetta to Manila — of 
about eight thousand miles. Everywhere he 
went, like Saint Paul and John Wesley and 
William Taylor, he left behind him organ¬ 
ized churches. Two terms might aptly de¬ 
scribe our history, namely, “evangelistic ex¬ 
pansion” and “organized connectionalism.” 

In the Indian Empire alone we now have 
nine Annual Conferences, one Mission Con¬ 
ference, and one Mission. When the Luck¬ 
now group of early missionaries asked the 
General Conference to organize them into 
an Annual Conference there was considera¬ 
ble discussion, and not a little fear, hut 
finally the General Conference granted per¬ 
mission to organize an India Annual Con¬ 
ference. A general superintending bishop 

79 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


came to India for the express purpose of 
completing its organization and inspecting 
its work. That Conference is now one of 
the strong bodies of Methodism and its chil¬ 
dren are scattered over the whole land. The 
list of Indian Conferences in alphabetical 
order is Bengal, Bombay, Burma, Central 
Provinces, Gujarat, Indus River, Lucknow, 
North India, Northwest India, South In¬ 
dia. They are regularly organized Confer¬ 
ences exactly as any Annual or Mission 
Conference in America, and with a relation¬ 
ship to the General Conference precisely the 
same. 

Had it been intended that the church 
abroad should not be a part of our regular 
ecclesiastical organization, succeeding Gen¬ 
eral Conferences would have made it per¬ 
fectly clear. The fact that succeeding Gen¬ 
eral Conferences have passed Enabling Acts 
encouraging and legalizing the Annual Con¬ 
ferences abroad, is proof positive and final 
that it has been the deliberate intention of 
the church to build up a world-wide organ¬ 
ization. 


80 


THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


What can be more fascinating than a 
study of our expansion? With what feeble 
strength our Missionary Society began its 
work a century ago, and with what magnifi¬ 
cent evidence of material and spiritual 
power we have ended the century! In 1833 
Melville Cox became our first foreign mis¬ 
sionary and laid down his life in Africa, the 
blood of the martyr having been the seed of 
the church. Now in that continent our 
church is organized into Mission and Annual 
Conferences, with two resident general su¬ 
perintendents. In 1836 our pioneers en¬ 
tered South America, and, following the 
evangelistic impulse, our work in this field 
has grown until we have now several regu¬ 
larly organized Conferences, with a bishop 
in residence. 

In 1849 returning Germans and other 
European emigrants who had been touched 
with evangelistic fervor in America, and had 
become members of the church, desired the 
establishment of Methodism in Europe. 
Thus the work began. Since then it has 
moved forward with remarkable power. In 

81 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


1853 work was begun in Scandinavia; in 
1856, in Switzerland; in 1857, Bulgaria; in 
1871, Italy; in 1873, Mexico; 1883, Finland. 
The Board of Foreign Missions has followed 
the pillar of fire in Europe. This develop¬ 
ment has been absolutely indigenous, and 
these countries now have fully organized 
Annual Conferences with three resident 
bishops and a Central Conference for all 
Europe. 

China was entered in 1847; Japan, 1882; 
and Korea, 1885. In Japan only the church 
has assumed a purely national character, 
having organized, in 1907, an independent 
Methodist Church in conjunction with the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and 
the Canadian Methodist constituency in that 
country. In other parts of eastern Asia the 
church is organized exactly as it is in Amer¬ 
ica, with general superintendents in resi¬ 
dence on the field. 

The India Mission was founded in 1856 
by the Rev. William Butler, and has been 
a glorious chapter in our history. More 
than twenty-four years ago Bishop Foss de- 

82 


THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


dared that no such growth had ever been 
seen in any mission field as he had beheld on 
his tour of observation in India. He said: 
“Let us take the statistics for the year 1887, 
the year of the last official visitation from 
this country before my tour, made by Bishop 
Ninde, and compare them with those of the 
year I was there, 1898. In 1887 we had 
3,305 probationers; eleven years later, 46,- 
097. In 1887 we had 4,018 full members; 
now we have 31,868. The total number of 
our communicants then was 7,323; now we 
have 77,963. That is an increase of tenfold 
in eleven years . ... I especially ask if you 
can think of any figures beginning with 
thousands, where there has been such a per¬ 
centage of increase in any mission, of which 
we have any knowledge, or in any part of 
any country where Methodism has ever been 
planted.” 

That was a quarter of a century ago. To¬ 
day, the year of our Lord nineteen hundred 
and twenty-three, Methodism stands in the 
midst of an unprecedented opportunity in 
this land. Our theological college is unable 

83 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


to accommodate all the applicants; our ele¬ 
mentary schools, high schools, and colleges 
are crowded to the doors. Our church mem¬ 
bership has reached 421,648 souls. Last 
year we baptized 35,340 persons. We have 
6,120 Sunday schools with 200,000 scholars 
in regular attendance. We have 7,098 Ep- 
worth League chapters with 26,000 mem¬ 
bers. This year during our special revival 
months forty-three special meetings were 
held, with more than a million people in at¬ 
tendance. During these meetings there were 
9,686 persons baptized. Bishop Thoburn’s 
prophecy of a million Methodists in India is 
no longer considered a dream. Should the 
present ratio of increase continue during the 
next two decades (and there is every reason 
for believing that it will), his prophecy will 
have been realized and surpassed. Should 
the same ratio continue longer, and should 
I live to reach the age of Bishop Thoburn 
when he retired from active episcopal serv¬ 
ice in 1908, I shall have lived to see a Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church in India of more 
than a million and a half in its community. 

84 


THE DAMASCUS ROAD 


God give us courage to remain true to this 
heavenly vision. This is the road of power 
and of service. We have but climbed the 
foothills which hid the supreme ranges from 
our sight, and the test of our loyalty is en¬ 
durance to the glorious end. 


85 


CHAPTER V 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 

All Christian missionary societies are 
coming rapidly to the conclusion that it is 
now imperative to adjust foreign-missionary 
administration so as to provide for the de¬ 
velopment of indigenous churches in the 
mission fields. Each church is now strug¬ 
gling with the problem of merging what is 
called “the Mission” with the indigenous 
church. Each denomination is, of course, 
approaching the problem from the stand¬ 
point of its own doctrine and polity, while 
at the same time interdenominational coun¬ 
cils and committees in each mission field are 
attempting to find common and practicable 
lines of action. 

This transition is essential from many 
standpoints, not the least of which is the va¬ 
riety of Christian expression and power 
which will come to the Church of Christ 

86 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


when each race and nation has beheld the 
divine Son of God through its own eyes, and 
not through the eyes of another, and when 
Christian testimony can have the glow of 
the warm-hearted truth which only personal 
Christian experience gives. Nothing ever 
really belongs to us until we have made it 
our own. Every new Christian and every 
new church on the mission field must be able 
to say with convicting reality, “Now we be¬ 
lieve, not because of thy speaking, for we 
have heard for ourselves and know.” The 
real national Christian dynamic, for which 
all missionaries pray, will come to the new 
churches when they cease to feel dependence 
upon foreign methods, expressions, leaders, 
and resource, and step out with the sure 
sense of the personal possession of self-direc¬ 
tion and conscious power. 

There is one thing, however, which it 
would seem all Christian churches must 
guard against, and that is the danger of sud¬ 
denly and drastically severing each na¬ 
tional unit from the parent church. If this 
is done at all, it ought to be accomplished in 

87 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


such a way as will keep each church in com¬ 
munion and fellowship with both the parent 
organization and with all other national 
Christian units. Ultimately, if Christianity 
becomes one universal communion, it will 
have been a great schooling and a great 
blessing to all national bodies to have had 
the experience of living with each other, and 
it would seem that unity could be brought 
about much more quickly by the cooperation 
of churches with world-wide affiliation and 
organization than by a collection of indepen¬ 
dent national groups. 

There is something about pure national¬ 
ism which inevitably tends to division. Our 
patriotic loyalty is so deep-seated as to be 
practically an instinct. And this instinct is 
sometimes uncontrolled by reason. Who 
could ever bear a repetition of the terrible 
divisions of Christianity caused by the great 
World War? Most churches did not rise 
above national considerations. German 
preachers madly damned in public the kings 
and premiers of enemy nations; while Brit¬ 
ish, French, Belgian, and American pulpits 

88 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


often prostituted the sanctity of the minis¬ 
try by publicly damning the enemies on the 
other side; and thousands of ministers 
prayed for the speedy and bitter destruction 
of their enemies. I kept a file of clippings 
from the newspapers at the time, in which 
these terrible words were printed. But a 
year ago, reading them over, I found that 
they so outraged my sense of Christian 
brotherhood that I destroyed them because 
I could not longer endure them even in my 
files. What we want is a world-embracing 
Christian fellowship and unity of spirit and 
brotherhood, which will help us to transcend 
national and racial prejudices even in hours 
of crises. Christianity is our one hope of 
universal good will, but its power is much 
more certain if it be a great world-wide fel¬ 
lowship. We could scarcely trust the ef¬ 
ficiency of a Christianity which was con¬ 
fessedly and purposely broken up into 
strictly independent groups along national 
lines. 

It is therefore wise seriously to consider 
the tendency toward purely national 

89 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


churches. To reenforce this position, I take 
the liberty of inserting here that prophetic 
quotation which Mr. Hutchinson has given 
us from Bishop Bashford’s address at the 
General Conference of 1912. It succinctly 
states my own conviction: 

“The whole trend of modern history is 
toward world-wide affiliations. . . . The 
key to the twentieth century is international¬ 
ism as nationalism was of the nineteenth 
century. ... It will be a thousand pities if 
at the very time when Christ’s conception of 
a universal kingdom is beginning to capture 
the imagination of the world, Methodism, 
assembled in a General Conference, in which 
representatives of twenty nations sit side by 
side, should attempt to reverse the Divine 
Providence, abandon her birthright embod¬ 
ied in John Wesley’s motto, ‘The world is 
my parish,’ and begin the organization of 
a national church for China, a national 
church for Mexico, a national church for 
Siberia .” 1 

Obviously, this consciousness of being a 

1 Hutchinson, The Next Step, p. 12. 

90 



THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


part of an ecumenical church need not ex¬ 
clude the sense of brotherhood with one’s 
own national kin. Should great movements 
toward unity arise in any country—true in¬ 
digenous movements, not those originated 
and fostered by foreign idealists—then it 
would be wise for the various groups related 
to the several branches to confer with each 
other and with the parent churches, with 
the hope of arriving at some plan by which 
the desired national unity could be achieved, 
and at the same time remain in fellowship 
and communion with the international 
churches. 


Methodist Catholicity 

Universality of organization and fellow¬ 
ship is possible without Pope or schism. 
Methodism has the middle road. There are 
four great international, connectional 
church bodies, Roman, Greek, Anglican, 
and Methodist Episcopal (including our sis¬ 
ter Church South). The Church of Rome 
stands for one central autocracy, vested in 
the Bishop of Rome. The bishops in all 

91 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


other countries are only his deputies. They 
have no power of independent action. The 
Church of England, and the churches in 
communion with her, while claiming to 
maintain the historical organization of the 
Christian Church, claim to go behind the 
papacy to the early Christian system, ac¬ 
cording to which the church in each country 
managed its own affairs, still maintaining 
communion with the churches in other coun¬ 
tries. Eastern Orthodox Christianity ear¬ 
lier conceived and maintained practically 
the same system. During the Reformation 
the Church of England claimed that the 
church in each country ought to be free to 
manage its own affairs. The Episcopal 
churches in Scotland and Ireland were never 
under the jurisdiction of Canterbury, while 
similar churches in America, South Africa, 
and Australia became free constituent mem¬ 
bers of the Anglican family of churches . 2 

John Wesley began his career as a High 
Churchman, and only by slow degrees did 

2 See C. G. Pearson in the Statesman, Calcutta, August 11, 
1923. 


92 



THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


he depart from that position. He believed 
in the catholicity of the church and for many 
years, against innumerable odds, kept his 
United Societies in communion with the es¬ 
tablished church. But by long and scholarly 
research, together with holy living and a life 
of prayer, he came to realize that the his¬ 
toric episcopate was a myth, and that he and 
his spiritual children had a perfect right and 
obligation to assume their apostolic inher¬ 
itance. He therefore claimed to go back 
beyond both Pope and episcopacy to the 
Pentecostal church and its presbyters. 

He was a rigid disciplinarian, and the 
greatest religious scholar and organizer of 
his age. His rule was so complete and ef- 
ficient'that his preachers were likened to the 
Jesuits in loyalty and passion. Wesley’s 
bold stroke in maintaining the episcopal 
form of church government as apostolic and 
efficient, while discarding the pretentious 
claim to unbroken succession, created a new 
ecclesiastical system destined to play a large 
part in catholic Christianity. This remark¬ 
able system may prove to be the ultimate 

93 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


basis of Christian organic union. The Free 
Churchman has little difficulty about an 
episcopalian organization, however much his 
inherited prejudices might urge him toward 
pure Congregationalism. But he does find it 
utterly impossible to smother his knowledge, 
experience, and convictions in order to ac¬ 
cept restoration to a unity whose orders 
are admittedly dependent on a material 
rather than a spiritual basis, on a succession 
guaranteed by the imposition of human 
hands, and which denies the validity of the 
imposition of a Mightier hand . 3 

The Methodist Episcopal system claims, 
and has, all the advantages of an episcopal 
polity without a central Pope or archbishop, 
and without dependence upon mechanical 
orders. It has the essential elements of the 
ancient rituals of Christianity with the free¬ 
dom of thought, expression, and growth 
necessary to true catholicity. Wesley’s dic¬ 
tum, “We think and let think,” is like that 
explosive expression of Oliver Cromwell in 
the Rump Parliament, “Gentlemen, by the 

3 See Bernard Lucas, Our Task in India, p. 113. 

94 



THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


mercies of Jesus Christ, think it possible 
that you may be mistaken .” 4 Wesley al¬ 
lowed the widest possible latitude of indi¬ 
vidual and group freedom of belief and ex¬ 
pression. 

In a free and adaptable organization like 
ours it is only necessary to maintain and ad¬ 
just our historic policy in order to allow 
every country its own expression of Chris¬ 
tianity, and yet remain in communion with 
and an organic part of the church as a 
whole. Let us conscientiously use the great 
polity bequeathed us by Wesley, adapting it 
with ever-increasing effectiveness to new 
times and new occasions. 

Provision for National Churches 

The General Conference of 1920 was an 
epoch-making Christian council because it 
saw the possibility of the Central or Re¬ 
gional Conference plan, and was bold 
enough to enlarge its scope so as to meet the 
exigencies of the present, and to anticipate 
the requirements of the future. 

4 Pearson, Statesman, Calcutta, August 11, 1923. 

95 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


The powers of the Central Conferences, 
as outlined in paragraph 95 of the Discipline, 
are as follows: 

“IT 95, § 1 . When in any of our foreign 
Mission fields there is more than one Annual 
Conference or Mission, if ordered by the 
General Conference, it shall be lawful to or¬ 
ganize a Central Conference, to be composed 
either of all the members of those Annual 
Conferences or Missions, or of delegates 
from the same, elected according to such 
ratio as may be agreed upon between the 
constituent parties, who may also provide 
for the admission of laymen to such Confer¬ 
ence, the number of lay delegates not to ex¬ 
ceed that of the clerical delegates. 

“§ 2. The first meeting of the Central 
Conference shall be called by the bishop in 
charge, at such time and place as he may se¬ 
lect, to which all the members of the Confer¬ 
ences and Missions concerned shall be in¬ 
vited, and at which a ratio of representation 
shall be fixed by the Conference. The time 
and place of future meetings shall be deter¬ 
mined by the Central Mission Conference; 

96 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


provided, that it shall meet at least once in 
four years. 

“§ 3. A general superintendent or a mis¬ 
sionary bishop, if present, shall preside over 
a Central Mission Conference; but in his 
absence the Conference shall elect a presi¬ 
dent from among its own members. Mis¬ 
sionary bishops have equal rights and privi¬ 
leges with general superintendents in the 
sessions of the Central Mission Conferences 
with which they are connected. 

“§ 4. (1) To a Central Conference shall 
be committed for supervision the educa¬ 
tional, industrial, publishing, medical, and 
other connectional interests of the Annual 
Conferences, Mission Conferences, and Mis¬ 
sions within its jurisdiction; but never in 
contravention of the book of Discipline , or 
the orders of the General Conference; and 
it shall have no authority to involve the 
Board of Foreign Missions in any financial 
responsibility, nor to hold or control the 
property of the Board without the official 
permission of the said Board. 

“ (2) Subject to the approval of the bish- 

97 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


ops, it shall have the power to arrange 
Courses of Study, including those in the 
vernaculars, for its ministry, both foreign 
and indigenous, including local preachers, 
exhorters, Bible women, deaconesses, teach¬ 
ers, both male and female, and all other 
workers whatsoever, ordained or lay. 

“(3) In cooperation and collaboration 
with the Board of Foreign Missions and the 
Woman’s Foreign Missionary Society, it 
shall supervise the missionary work and 
policy of the indigenous church and provide 
suitable organization for such work. 

“(4) A Central Conference is authorized 
to prepare and translate into the vernacu¬ 
lar concerned simplified and adapted forms 
of such parts of the Ritual as may be deemed 
necessary; to extend Article XXIII of the 
Articles of Religion to recognize the gov¬ 
ernment or the governments of countries 
within its jurisdiction. 

“(5) A Central Conference shall have 
power to make such adaptations regarding 
membership, special advices, worship and 
the local ministry, not contrary to the Dis- 

98 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


cipline, as the peculiar conditions of the 
fields concerned call for. 

“(6) A Central Conference, where the 
laws of the country permit, and subject to 
proper agreements with the Board of For¬ 
eign Missions, shall have the power to in¬ 
corporate an Executive Board or Commit¬ 
tee with such membership and powers as 
may be determined by the Central Confer¬ 
ence, for the purpose of transacting such 
necessary business as may arise in the inter¬ 
val between the sessions of the Central Con¬ 
ference, or that may be committed to it by 
the Central Conference. 

“(7) A Central Conference shall have 
the power to establish detailed rules, rites, 
and ceremonies for the solemnization of 
marriage not contrary to the statute law 
of the country or countries within its juris¬ 
diction. 

“(8) A Central Conference shall have 
power to make such rules and regulations 
for the purchase, holding, and transferring 
of property, not related to the Board of For¬ 
eign Missions and the Woman’s Foreign 

99 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Missionary Society, as the local laws allow 
or require. 

“§ 5. In the Central Conference the right 
shall be reserved to vote by Conferences or 
Missions whenever the delegations from one 
third of the several Conferences or Missions 
represented shall so demand. In such cases 
the concurrent vote of the delegations from 
two thirds of all the Conferences and Mis¬ 
sions present and voting shall be necessary 
to complete an action. 

“§ 6. A Central Conference may fix the 
boundaries of the Annual Conferences 
within its bounds, proposals for changes 
first having been submitted to the Annual 
Conferences concerned as prescribed in HIT 
511-513, provided, however, that the num¬ 
ber of Annual Conferences which may be 
organized within the bounds of a Central 
Conference shall first have been determined 
by the General Conference; and provided, 
further, that no Conference shall be organ¬ 
ized with less than twenty-five members. 

“§ 7. When a Central Conference has 
been duly organized it shall not be discon- 

100 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


tinued except by order or consent of the 
General Conference. 

“§ 8. The Journal of the proceedings of 
a Central Mission Conference, duly signed 
by the president and secretary, shall be sent 
for examination to the General Conference. 

“§ 9. The Central Conference of South¬ 
ern Asia and between sessions the Executive 
Board of the Central Conference, is au¬ 
thorized to fix the residences of the mission¬ 
ary bishops for Southern Asia, and to assign 
the missionary bishops to such residences.” 5 

Central Conference Safeguards 

I have presented the entire paragraph for 
the sake of clarity. Note the absolute safe¬ 
guards against fantastic or unconsidered ac¬ 
tion on the part of any Central Conference. 

1. A Central Conference can only be or¬ 
ganized by the order of the General Con¬ 
ference (§1). 

2. The Annual Conferences in the coun¬ 
try concerned must vote to ask for and form 
such Central Conference (§1). 

5 Discipline, 1920, pp. 88-91. 

101 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


3. A bishop or a missionary bishop shall 
preside (§3). 

4. It shall have no authority to involve 
the Board of Foreign Missions in any finan¬ 
cial or other responsibility without the 
Board’s consent (§4). 

5. The Courses of Study must be ap¬ 
proved by the bishop (§ 4). 

6. It is to collaborate with the Board of 
Foreign Missions and the Woman’s Foreign 
Missionary Society as to missionary policy 

(§ 4 )- 

7. The number of Annual Conferences 
which can be organized within the bounds 
of a Central Conference must be determined 
by the General Conference (§ 6). 

8. It can be discontinued only by the con¬ 
sent of the General Conference (§ 7). 

9. Its Minutes are subject to examination 
by the General Conference (§8). 

Who would ask for any more definite con¬ 
trol, and who would label such strict legisla¬ 
tion as unconsidered and sensational action? 
It is sensible, moderate, and wise. Nationals 
will probably sooner or later consider that 

102 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


it errs on the side of being too conservative 
and will expect the revision of every restric¬ 
tion which may tend to limit national aspira¬ 
tions. 


New Provisions Expected 

The splendid advance made in 1920 must 
be followed up by the next General Confer¬ 
ence with courage and statesmanship. New 
powers to these Central Conferences must 
be granted regularly, consistently, and gen¬ 
erously. There is no more vital thing before 
our communion at this time. The last Gen¬ 
eral Conference expected that further ad¬ 
vance would be made along this line, as is 
evidenced by the following resolution, 
adopted after having been fully discussed 
in the Committee on Foreign Missions: 

“Whereas, The Central Mission Confer¬ 
ence has become a vital part of our foreign 
system of administration; and 

“Whereas, There is considerable agitation 
in some countries concerning the subject of 
the increase of powers for Central Mission 
Conferences; therefore be it 

103 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


“Resolved, That the General Conference 
request the appointment of a Commission on 
Central Conferences, which shall consist of 
the bishops in charge of foreign fields and 
nine others to be appointed by the Board of 
Bishops. The Commission is asked to study 
the whole question and report its recom¬ 
mendations to the next General Confer¬ 
ence.” 6 

This Commission is perhaps too large and 
its personnel too widely scattered, but it is 
at work and will have suggestions to make. 
Future commissions might profitably be 
appointed with instructions to proceed as a 
body to each major field for purposes of 
study and report. On the membership of 
such committee there should be one repre¬ 
sentative from each Central Conference 
area and a small delegation from the great 
American section of the church. The cost 
of such sympathetic investigation would be 
infinitesimal compared to the advantage it 
would be to the Church of Christ throughout 
the world. 

6 General Conference Journal , 1920, p. 431. 

104 



THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


The present plan has been slowly devel¬ 
oped through a period of forty years. Un¬ 
due haste is not expected. But we must act 
just as rapidly as conditions demand. We 
should see the need for change before being 
forced to yield. A true General Confer¬ 
ence will be the precursor of progress, 
always a little in advance of necessities. And 
the constituencies within each Central Con¬ 
ference should take advantage of the liber¬ 
ties now given rather than to agitate for 
more power than they intend to use. 

Special provision can be made for particu¬ 
lar countries. Not all fields are in the same 
state of advance. The governmental, social, 
and religious conditions differ according to 
nationalities. It is not necessary to have a 
blanket provision applicable everywhere. 
The representation from each field should 
be studied independently. A backbone of 
general provisions is required, with particu¬ 
lar legislation when and where necessary. 

Within the immediate future certain pro¬ 
posals will require and deserve discussion. 
For instance, the election of bishops by the 

105 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Central Conferences. In certain of the 
countries the time has come for the conse¬ 
cration of one or more national bishops. 
How shall they be elected? As general su¬ 
perintendents, in the same manner as the 
two Negro bishops were elected in 1920, on 
a separate ballot? By the General Confer¬ 
ence as missionary bishops according to 
present legislation? Or, shall the particu¬ 
lar Central Conference be given an Ena¬ 
bling Act by the General Conference to elect 
a designated number of national bishops, 
fixing the nationality from which selection 
shall be made, and authorizing the bishops 
presiding at the Central Conference to con¬ 
secrate them when elected ? In the first two 
instances the machinery is ready to hand. 
If the last plan should appear, after dis¬ 
cussion, to be preferable, the General Con¬ 
ference would need to set in motion the nec¬ 
essary legislation to make such elections pos¬ 
sible. Considered from the angle of the de¬ 
velopment of an indigenous church this last 
method would be the most prophetic and 
constructive. The election of the required 

106 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


number of national bishops does not need to 
affect any general superintendents who may 
also be assigned to residence in that field. 
During the transition period, the two types 
of bishops could be absolutely coordinate 
when administering in the field, and no fric¬ 
tion nor confusion need develop. Ultimately 
all the bishops may be nationals. And 
meantime the national bishops need not be in 
any sense subject to general superinten¬ 
dents but coresponsible. 

Provision should be made by which me¬ 
morials could go direct to the General Con¬ 
ference from the Central Conferences, 
rather than having to pass through Annual 
Conferences, or through special signatures 
at General-Conference time. This would 
greatly simplify the manner in which the of¬ 
ficial expression of the desire of each par¬ 
ticular field is secured. Other privileges 
will become obvious. At the present time, 
however, it is well to consider the machinery 
as adequate to imperative needs, and to press 
forward toward its utilization. On careful 
analysis it will be seen that the act provides 

107 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


unusual facilities for national adaptation, 
expression, and growth. 

Autonomy Guaranteed 

Let us now consider in detail the remark¬ 
able powers already granted to each regu¬ 
larly organized Central Conference (II 95). 

1. Each national unit determines for it¬ 
self whether or not it shall have a Central 
Conference (§1). 

2. Each Central Conference determines 
for itself the manner in which delegates 
will be elected, fixes the number of dele¬ 
gates, and determines the ratio of represen¬ 
tation from the Annual Conferences (§ 1). 

3. Laymen may compose one half the 
membership (§1). 

4. It selects its own time and place of 
meeting during each quadrennium, and ex¬ 
tra sessions may be convened, if required 
(§ 2 ). 

5. In the absence of a bishop the Confer¬ 
ence elects its own president from among 
its members, and elects all other officers 

(§ 3 ). 


108 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


6. It has power to supervise: 

(a) All educational work within its 
territory. 

(b) All publishing interests, period¬ 
icals, books, literature, printing 
presses, and kindred concerns. 

(c) All medical and industrial mission¬ 
ary activities. 

( d) All general, connectional, ecclesi¬ 
astical interests. 

(§4, [1]). This is practically a blanket 
power-of-attorney to organize and conduct 
all work of an indigenous nature. It is ex¬ 
traordinary in its possibilities. 

7. Power is given to adopt Courses of 
Study for the ministry, both foreign and in¬ 
digenous (§4, [2]). This requires the ap¬ 
proval of the bishops, but in America also 
the same approval is required. 

8. It has authority to supervise the mis¬ 
sionary work and policy of the indigenous 
church, and to determine the organization 
best suited to its success (§ 4, [3]). The 
cooperation of the Board of Foreign Mis¬ 
sions and the Woman’s Foreign Missionary 

109 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Society is required here. This is sensible so 
long as generous support comes from these 
two agencies. As the national church grows 
toward self-support, even this requirement 
will be removed. 

9. Power is given to extend the twenty- 
third Article of Religion (which deals with 
loyalty to government) so as to recognize 
the government or governments of the coun¬ 
tries within the Central Conference juris¬ 
diction (§4, [4]). It would be difficult 
tp find a parallel to this freedom in ecclesi¬ 
astical organizations. Here is the supreme 
power to make the church national to the 
core. Patriotism and true national loyalty 
can here find full and high expression. 

10. It has authority to adapt the re¬ 
quirements concerning membership, forms 
of worship, and the local ministry, to the 
peculiar needs of each field (§ 4, [5]). 
Here, again, each national unit may take 
full advantage of its liberty by making the 
church truly indigenous. If pulpits are un- 
Indian; if it would best appeal to Indians 
to leave their shoes outside the church, and 

110 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


not to remove their turbans; if translated 
foreign hymns are uninspiring; if the con¬ 
versational method of instruction and the 
silent method of worship are best adapted to 
the people of certain localities; if any other 
innovation would advance the kingdom of 
Christ—then let the Central Conference 
take the necessary action. Here is power 
unlimited, and true to the Christian princi¬ 
ple of variety in method and unity in spirit. 

11. Power is given to adjust the details, 
rules, rites, and ceremonies for the sol¬ 
emnization of marriage to national Chris¬ 
tian custom, in conformity to the laws of the 
respective countries (§4, [7]). 

12. Rules for holding and transferring 
property can be adopted by the Conference 
(§4, [8]). 

13. Power is given to fix boundaries of 
the constituent Annual Conferences (§6). 

14. The Southern Asia Central Confer¬ 
ence is authorized to fix the residences of its 
missionary bish®ps (§9). 

15. And in all these each constituent An¬ 
nual Conference has its own suffrage and 

111 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


power safeguarded, provision being made 
for separate vote on any measure. When 
such division is called for it requires two 
thirds of all the Conferences present and 
voting to complete an action (§ 5). 

In this extraordinary list of powers it 
must be evident to any careful observer that 
most of the powers which a purely indepen¬ 
dent national church would grant to its 
central body are here provided for. When 
plans are made for the election of bishops 
the machinery will be practically complete 
for present requirements. I wonder whether 
our missionaries and national preachers and 
laymen realize what wonderful opportunity 
they have herein for the building of a true 
indigenous church! I trust the national 
churches in each area will speedily develop 
the vision, the disposition, and the courage 
to take advantage of these liberties. 

Requisites for Indigenous Growth 1 

It must be kept constantly in mind that 
an indigenous church cannot be created by 


1 See Appendix B. 


112 



THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


legislation, no matter how many technical 
powers are conferred upon the local con¬ 
stituencies by the supreme authority of any 
church. The roots must lie far deeper than 
this. The demand for autonomy and the 
ability to take over responsibility must go 
hand in hand. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
foreign field is not a Mission in the technical 
sense in which this term is used by other 
Christian bodies. We are a church , with all 
the powers, privileges, rights, and oppor¬ 
tunities for self-direction with which 
churches anywhere are endowed. The na¬ 
ture of our Annual Conference organization 
insures all members against individual or 
autocratic control. We have a considerable 
number of Indian district superintendents 
and heads of institutions. This number will 
increase. When receiving a recent class 
into membership in the Bengal Conference 
I was happy to be able to call their attention 
to the Disciplinary guarantee, namely, that 
they were now amenable only to the Annual 
Conference. No bishop, missionary, district 

113 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


superintendent, or any other individual of¬ 
ficial could deprive them of position or suf¬ 
frage. Any misunderstanding which might 
arise must be brought to the notice of the 
Conference through its regularly appointed 
committees, and the vote of the Conference 
is the authority. Even then there remains 
the right of appeal. They are now a part 
of a democratic world-wide organization, 
which grants to all its ministers, regardless 
of race or nationality, equal status and 
privileges. 

In most of the Annual Conferences the 
nationals far outnumber those from other 
countries. Therefore if the full right of suf¬ 
frage is used, there is every opportunity to 
mold the Indian Church or the Chinese 
Church into that form which may be best 
adapted to indigenous development. 

Beyond the Annual Conference is the lo¬ 
cal Quarterly Conference with power to di¬ 
rect its own local affairs. Our laymen are 
not attached to a Mission from another 
country, but are actual members of the 
Church of Christ , fully organized and func- 

114 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


tioning in their own country. No business 
man in America is any more truly a member 
of the church than is the humblest Indian or 
Chinese communicant. If this is clearly 
borne in mind by all administrators, both 
foreign and national, and by all preachers 
and members, we shall be able, with the pres¬ 
ent developing policy, to lay broad and deep 
the foundations of the national Christian 
churches. 

Our 421,000 Methodist members in India 
and Burma are not under any necessity of 
denationalizing themselves in order to 
be loyal to the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in both doctrine and polity. Every mission¬ 
ary who comes to India or China joins a 
Conference, casting in his lot with the In¬ 
dian or Chinese members. He subjects his 
ecclesiastical standing to their suffrage, and 
has no more and no less voting power than 
any other member. 

The very genius of Methodism lends it¬ 
self to the development of national churches, 
and we should direct our energies into those 
channels which will most speedily bring 

115 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


about this desired end. We do not need 
to merge the Mission into the church. We 
are already merged. What we need is to 
live up to the privileges which are ours, and 
move forward boldly, courageously, and 
efficiently. 

One danger that we missionaries must, 
however, guard against is that of seeking en¬ 
larged power for our Central Conferences 
so that we may have more chance to direct 
the destinies of the national church. This is 
a subtle temptation, because it can exist 
without our conscious knowledge. It can 
come as one of those subconscious ambitions 
born of a sincere desire to help. What we 
want is a Central Conference that will place 
upon the shoulders of the nationals them¬ 
selves the opportunity, privilege, and re¬ 
sponsibility of realizing their own national 
Christian ideals. 

Having said this, it is necessary to confess 
that we, along with other missionary soci¬ 
eties, have not always acted with consistent 
loyalty to the implications of our system or 
ideals. We have sometimes treated the na- 

116 


THE INEVITABLE GOAL 


tional ministers or laymen as though they 
were inferiors. We have brought our own 
etiquette with us and have sometimes igno¬ 
rantly demanded that the nationals conform 
to our standards rather than to take the 
trouble to learn their customs and to respect 
them. Why should we forever demand that 
every foreigner who comes to America 
should speedily Americanize himself, but 
forget to Indianize ourselves when we come 
to their country? Are these hard words? 
I apply them to myself. I am sure that in 
more than one instance I have ignorantly 
and unconsciously outraged the sensibilities 
of lovely Indians by my crass Occidental 
manner. God give us the vision, humility, 
and self-forgetfulness that will help us to 
identify our lives with these nascent, na¬ 
tional Christian churches. 

We are only at the beginning of the Chris¬ 
tian victories which await us in these lands. 
We have but one supreme task. That is to 
inspire, instruct, and transfer as rapidly as 
possible. There may be always foreign min¬ 
isters in our indigenous Conferences, just 

117 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


as there are foreign ministers in our Amer¬ 
ican Conferences, but they must be there to 
help and to cooperate with a self-contained 
church and not to necessarily direct it in gen¬ 
eral or particular affairs. 

The church in the mission field must of 
necessity become more natural to the soil in 
which its life is to be lived. In many ways 
it has often presented to its non-Christian 
neighbors the spectacle of an exotic growth, 
not native to the country, but foreign, and 
therefore undesirable. Considering the fact 
that the knowledge of Christianity was 
brought to these countries by foreign mis¬ 
sionaries and that the methods of these men 
and women seemed to the new Christians the 
only way to do things, the development of a 
church copied after the Occidental type was 
perhaps inevitable in the early years. But 
the time has now come to change the form, 
the method, and the emphasis. The Chris¬ 
tian churches must identify themselves with 
their own country. They must share its 
burden, help mold its policies, and assist in 
building its national structure. 

118 


CHAPTER VI 


THE ROAD OF THE BURNING 

HEART 

“Jesus himself went with them.” 

Who has been our companion and guide? 
Who brought us. up hither? These vital 
questions face us as we journey toward the 
goal set before us. When John Wesley at 
Aldersgate met Jesus Christ face to face 
and entered into the great spiritual experi¬ 
ence which set his life aglow with divine fer¬ 
vor and irresistible power, he exclaimed that 
his heart was strangely warmed within him. 

His was not an isolated experience. Cen¬ 
turies before, on that historic road to Em- 
maus, two disciples walked beside a strange 
and fascinating Traveler. They had experi¬ 
enced great events during recent months. 
At the call of a high vision they had left 
everything they possessed and had followed 

119 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


a man named Jesus. They had thought him 
to be the Messiah. They had sacrificed for 
him and had suffered persecution and hard¬ 
ship and toil. Yet their fives were glorified 
by the mere joy of fellowship with him. 
They had been with him by the sea, in the 
country, on the mount, in humble homes, 
beside the market place, and in the syna¬ 
gogue. They had risked everything for him, 
had staked all on his cause. Three days be¬ 
fore he had been attacked by a cruel mob, 
and the sober judges had condemned him. 
All the legal authorities—the Pharisees and 
the scribes and the lawyers—had declared 
him the enemy of the state and the church. 
Therefore they had dragged him to a public 
gibbet and had crucified him. 

What could his followers now do but go 
back to the old home and the old fife? 
Maybe they had been mistaken anyhow. 
The high moments were forgotten. The 
visions were gone. The reaction had set in. 
That is always a deadly moment when the 
reaction and the doubt come after the high, 
holy hours of vision. The heart suffers one 

120 




PtOAD OF THE BURNING HEART 


of two serious breakdowns. It is either dead 
with disappointment or so bitter as to con¬ 
demn the former glory and to try to cast it 
out of the memory. The mind argues 
against it and declares that the moments of 
inspiration were unreal—things were car¬ 
ried too far; words of adoration were spoken 
in extravagance; it was all a huge blunder; 
it was good that one had discovered the il¬ 
lusion in time. The easy, steady, dead-level 
life is better after all. Oh, let us confess it! 
We have all had these moments of reaction. 
These men were going hack to the low roof, 
the narrow street, the mud wall, the oil wick, 
and the common village. 

But while they walked this Stranger 
joined them. And when they arrived at 
their little, smoky village they asked him to 
abide awhile. And when he began breaking 
the bread, their breath suddenly failed them. 
Each, instantaneously, looked at the other. 
Something caught in their throats. They 
saw him smile and vanish from their eager 
sight. Oh, wonder of wonders, it was Jesus! 
It was their beloved Messiah! He was alive 

121 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


and they knew it not! Then their blinded 
eyes were opened, and the old high visions 
came back. They caught each other in their 
arms, and cried one to another, “Did not our 
hearts burn within us while he talked with 
us by the way?” 

And they ran back along that road of the 
burning heart to Jerusalem, and rushed up 
to the disciples’ meeting place, crying 
warmly and earnestly that Jesus was alive 
and that they had seen him—yes, they had 
seen him, walked with him, ate with him! 
He was alive; they had experienced it. And 
while they spoke Jesus himself suddenly 
stood in the midst of them. There were his 
sorrow-pierced hands, and feet, and side. 
Now all the visions returned. They knew 
then that these moments were the great rich 
realities of life. What were doubts and re¬ 
actions now? 

And in this present high moment of re¬ 
newed vision he gave them the great commis¬ 
sion—“Go,” he said, “and preach in my 
name among all nations (beginning at Jeru¬ 
salem), the remission of sins, the sufferings 

122 


ROAD OF THE BURNING HEART 


and death of Christ, and his resurrection 
from the dead. You are witnesses of these 
things, and I will send the Holy Spirit upon 
you, and you shall be endued with power 
from on high.” And again, in glory, he van¬ 
ished out of their sight. But never again 
did the vision fade. They went out with 
great joy, praising God and carrying his 
blessed story to men with beholden eyes. 

From that day to this Jesus has walked 
with his millions of awakened disciples along 
the road of the burning heart. 

This is the way the Methodist Episcopal 
Church came to develop our vast and unself¬ 
ish program of world-wide ministry and 
service. He lias been our Guide, 

Does anyone imagine that he was not pres¬ 
ent at all the General Conferences through¬ 
out the years where these policies have been 
adopted with enthusiasm and vision? One 
stands amazed at the temerity of lawyers 
who could look upon that scene at Des 
Moines, when our two beloved Negro bish¬ 
ops were elected, and then walk along some 
dusty Emmaus road of reaction, indiffer- 

123 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


ence, and cold-blooded calculation, and de¬ 
clare it illegal. I shall never forget that ap¬ 
plause; shall never forget the way the dele¬ 
gates leaped to their feet, and stood to honor 
these dark-skinned sons of God as they were 
escorted to the platform. I saw my white- 
haired seniors clasp them in their arms. My 
heart burned within me. And one of the 
silver-haired saints said to me with a glow 
in his cheek, “Oh, son, I have waited thirty 
years to see this sight.” Who shall say it 
was done in sudden frenzy? For a half 
dozen quadrenniums we have been voting for 
colored men for this office. At last the Gen¬ 
eral Conference of 1920 had the courage to 
adopt a legal method of voting which would 
guarantee an election. 

And I shall not forget those turbaned In¬ 
dians, silk-clad Chinese, and dark-skinned 
Africans—and a dozen other nationalities, 
who rejoiced in the enlargement of plans for 
national Central Conferences. Their eyes 
were opened, that they might behold each 
nation rising in native strength to worship 
the Man of the Emmaus Road and of the 

124 



ROAD OF THE BURNING HEART 


nail-pierced hands. We shall not forget 
those hours. They were vital realities. And 
no matter if it is hard to put all the plans 
into practice, we shall not be disobedient to 
the heavenly vision. 

“Not mine to wet the page of yesterday 
With unavailing tears; 

Nor strive to clear the mystery of a way 
Far, leading through the years.” 

Enough that He said “Go.” Enough 
that He stood in our midst. Enough that 
He walks with us in the way. 

The historian’s failure is that he looks 
ever backward. He thinks everything that 
can happen has happened. That all that yet 
comes must merely repeat what has gone 
before. Herein he misses the goal. It is 
perfectly legitimate to turn the light of the 
past upon the future, but folly to deliber¬ 
ately darken the future by the shadows of 
the past. The church is not dead, so its 
biography cannot yet be completed. We 
must conceive of it as an unfinished history, 
and we must seek to discover the next chap- 

125 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


ter in its progressive life. We are still writ¬ 
ing it, and the authors must not be in too 
great hurry to get to the end. Patience and 
expectation are required. Not backward, 
but forward; not legal formalism but life. 
The living Christ walks with us in this mod¬ 
ern world and we must not stumble with 
eyes beholden and see him not. Thomas 
Curtis Clark has given us the challenge in 
his lines on “The Faith of Christ’s Free¬ 
men ”: 1 

“Our faith is not in dead saints’ bones, 

In altars of vain sacrifice; 

Nor is it in the stately stones 

That rise in beauty toward the skies. 

“Our faith is in the Christ who walks 
With men to-day, in street and mart; 

The constant Friend who thinks and talks 
With those who seek him with the heart. 

“His gospel calls for living men, 

With singing blood and minds alert; 

Strong men, who fall to rise again, 

Who strive and bleed, with courage girt. 

Trom Love Off to the War, James F. White & Co. f pub¬ 
lishers. Used by permission. 

126 



ROAD OF THE BURNING HEART 


“We serve no God whose work is done, 

Who rests within his firmament: 

Our God, his labors but begun, 

Toils evermore, with power unspent. 

“God was, and is, and e’er shall be; 

Christ lived and loved—and loves us still; 

And man goes forward, proud and free, 
God’s present purpose to fulfill.” 

The Road of the Burning Heart is the 
Road of the Living Presence of Christ. 
When the awakened disciples rushed back 
along that road to the meeting place of the 
church council, they had a vital Christian 
experience which they were anxious to im¬ 
part to others. When they reached the 
council room and burst into testimony, Jesus 
stood in the midst of them. He was present 
both on the road and in the council. And 
we must never forget that when the mission¬ 
aries and Indians, and Chinese, and Afri¬ 
cans, and other redeemed personalities came 
back along the Road of the Burning Heart 
to the General Conference, to tell what the 
living Christ had wrought throughout the 
earth, Jesus himself stood in our midst. No 

127 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


man dare take away from the church the 
faith that our councils are led by the living 
Christ in the hearts of his representatives. 
To label them as deceived violators of the 
law is to take away the charter of apostleship 
from every officer elected, and the stamp of 
Pentecost from every plan adopted. This 
does not mean infallibility. There may be 
defects in the plans, and human weaknesses 
in the personalities, but the general motives 
and principles are sound and true and right. 

In reading a passage from Thomas W. 
Higginson an admirer was inspired to say, 
“The best of history is not machine made, 
but is inspired by high ideals, and is pur¬ 
posive with the lofty aims of God.” This 
is the only kind of historic interpretation 
which the soul can trust and follow. 

“This is the way, walk ye in it.” 

“And lo! I am with you, even unto the end.” 


128 


APPENDIX A 


ARE THERE TOO MANY 
BISHOPS? 

Much has been said and written of late 
concerning the alleged illegality, extrava¬ 
gance, prodigality, or excessive enthusiasm 
with which the General Conference of 1920 
scattered a largely increased number of 
bishops throughout the earth. As a matter 
of fact, I have not seen one accurate state¬ 
ment concerning the actual number of new 
residences created. Advantage has been 
taken of the technical fact that the mission¬ 
ary bishops were not general superinten¬ 
dents. It is only in this way that the num¬ 
ber of new bishops elected can be stated as 
seventeen. For the sake of accuracy one 
must take into account the three missionary 
bishops who were elected general superin¬ 
tendents, and the general superintendents 
and missionary bishops who had died during 

129 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


the previous quadrennium. Taking this into 
account the actual increase in episcopal resi¬ 
dences abroad was only six—one in China, 
one in Malaysia, one in India, two in 
Europe, and one in Mexico. Much of the 
discussion has been so sensational as to lead 
the public to think that the entire seventeen 
residences abroad were a brand-new idea, 
when, as a matter of fact, the increase has 
simply been in line with normal expansion. 
The accident that the number of residences 
abroad coincided with the total number of 
new bishops has also led to confusion. 

Referring to the General Conference 
Journals, it is easy to find more radical in¬ 
creases in the past. Take, for instance, the 
General Conference of 1872. There were 
eight new bishops elected at that time. Con¬ 
sidering the size of the church, the temper 
of the times, and the conditions of the w T orld, 
that increase was more extravagant than 
that of the recent General Conference. So 
far as policy is concerned the election of 
William Taylor as missionary bishop and 
the launching of that policy was sensational 

130 


APPENDIX A 


in its effect. And certain General Confer¬ 
ences have elected unordained laymen to the 
episcopacy and have had to ordain them dea¬ 
con, elder and bishop within a few hours. 
In 1900 the missionary episcopacy in South¬ 
ern Asia was suddenly increased threefold. 
In 1904 we elected seven new bishops and 
four missionary bishops, an increase for that 
day more radical than the increase of 1920. 
If one seeks unusual procedure, he can find 
plenty of it in Methodist history and espe¬ 
cially in the Journals of our deliberative 
bodies. This is one of our glories—the abil¬ 
ity to move quickly, and to meet unprece¬ 
dented conditions in unprecedented ways. 

The two things which made the action of 
1920 extraordinary were, first, the election 
of the three missionary bishops to the gen¬ 
eral superintendency, and, second, the elec¬ 
tion of the two Negro bishops. Both these 
actions had been long considered and de¬ 
bated by previous General Conferences. 
They were not new issues. These two 
things, plus the increase in the number of 
foreign residences, plus the fact that no 

131 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


missionary bishops were elected, plus the 
enlarged powers conferred upon Central 
Conferences, explain the present conserva¬ 
tive reaction to what seemed to be an un¬ 
usual expansion. Taken separately, no 
single action was either illegal or sensa¬ 
tional. It is only when they are put together 
that they alarm timid souls. But taken col¬ 
lectively they are not at all radical in view 
of the times in which we live and the new 
conditions facing our church. 

It must be kept in mind that there were 
three bishops in Southern Asia as long ago 
as 1900. The creation of two new episcopal 
residences in the vast territory from Quetta 
to Manila is not an extravagance when one 
considers that the General Conference of 
twenty years before considered it necessary 
to have three. During these twenty years 
Methodism has grown by leaps and bounds 
in Southern and Southeastern Asia. In 
1900 there were a hundred and twenty thou¬ 
sand members in this territory; to-day ap¬ 
proximately a half million! 

Can it be possible that with the unprece- 

132 


APPENDIX A 

dented growth of our constituency, and the 
complexity of the administrative problems, 
the sober-minded people of our church can 
believe that four bishops are too many for 
India? Consider the distance the adminis¬ 
trators must travel. As an example, the two 
sections of my own area are separated by 
eight hundred miles of sea. Three days on 
a mail steamer are required to get from Cal¬ 
cutta to Rangoon. If one takes the entire 
stretch of the area from east to west, the ter¬ 
ritorial extent (in point of time required to 
traverse it) is equal to the distance from 
Boston, Massachusetts, to Denver, Colo¬ 
rado. Consider the number of episcopal 
residences which lie within this territory in 
America. It is not claimed that the work of 
the resident bishop in Calcutta is commen¬ 
surate with the work of all these bishops. 
The comparison is made in order to show 
that in point of travel and the inconven¬ 
ience of administration the work is almost 
an impossibility. How our bishops resident 
abroad during the last half century have 
been able to maintain their health and life 

133 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


is more than I am able to explain. The dif¬ 
ficulties of travel, the complexity of the 
problems, the burden of the finances, the 
poverty of the people, their sorrows, their 
needs, sap the strength and power of the 
strongest body and mind. 

When I read these intermittent articles in 
the church press demanding the withdrawal 
of two of the four bishops from Southern 
Asia and implying that two would be suf¬ 
ficient to handle the work, I am tempted to 
request the church to offer the authors of 
these articles an opportunity to try the ad¬ 
ministration. One year would cure them. 
That is if they had any missionary vision; 
if they had a heart; if they were interested in 
the problems and the opportunities of work 
of this character. Of course, if they came 
with a local American consciousness, and 
saw everything through the eyes of “Main 
Street’’ and “LTpham’s Corners,” they 
might not be conscious of the challenges and 
opportunities that lie upon every hand. In 
that case they might think that there is not 
enough to do. But did anyone ever hear 

134 


APPENDIX A 


Francis Asbury or William McKendree 
speak in these terms of their pioneer tasks? 
Was their full time required in the mere or¬ 
dination of ministers and the holding of An¬ 
nual Conferences? They were itinerants, 
constantly on the road; they were praying 
in private houses, preaching the gospel in 
inns, holding evangelistic meetings, dedicat¬ 
ing new chapels and meetinghouses, encour¬ 
aging isolated preachers in the heart of the 
wilderness, weaving together in common 
idealism the far-scattered churches. That 
is our task on the foreign frontier. 

One reason that we do not catch the vision 
of the opportunity of the episcopacy abroad 
is because we are thinking of a sort of over¬ 
head episcopate, whose particular business 
is to preside in Annual Conferences, ordain 
the candidates to the ministry, deliver An¬ 
nual Conference sermons and lecture to 
thousands of people. But this is a picture 
that does not seem to obtain either in Amer¬ 
ica or abroad. Sitting in the meetings of the 
Board of Bishops and listening to the re¬ 
ports of my colleagues, I have become im- 

135 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


pressed with the hard work which the men 
are doing in all the areas, whether it be in 
New England, the Middle West, the Pa¬ 
cific Coast, or at the outposts of civilization. 

Sometimes when I have read certain criti¬ 
cal articles, I have laid down the papers and 
have asked myself the question, “What am 
I here for?” Am I here because we are sup¬ 
posed to have a well-established Methodist 
Episcopal Church, with well-oiled machin¬ 
ery and every department moving, and be¬ 
cause a bishop is required simply to preside 
and to sit in the seat of the mighty ? Or, am I 
here because the church has set me down in 
the midst of a vast and seething population, 
with broken hearts, with diseased bodies, 
with blind eyes, in the hovels of poverty; 
needing education, needing inspiration, 
needing economic relief, needing the vision 
of Jesus Christ? I am here because there is 
widespread opportunity . I am here not be¬ 
cause Methodism has already become great, 
I am here to establish it if possible, and to 
make it great in the service of the kingdom 
of God. If I can do that, then there is some 

136 


APPENDIX A 


reason for the church having sent me to the 
ends of the earth. If I cannot catch that 
vision and do not feel the throb of that call, 
then I ought to resign, and seek a more con¬ 
genial place of service. 

It was made perfectly plain, both by the 
representatives of the Committee on Epis¬ 
copacy and by the General Conference as a 
whole, that whatever bishops were elected in 
1920 must be prepared to be assigned to resi¬ 
dences abroad, to be separated from the 
home land, and to live under foreign condi¬ 
tions. Therefore every man, myself among 
them, who accepted the election of that Gen¬ 
eral Conference, and permitted our episco¬ 
pal seniors to lay their hands upon our heads 
in consecration to this task, must steadfastly, 
earnestly, and devotedly follow the gleam 
and fulfill our trust. If any of us have 
failed, then let the ensuing General Confer¬ 
ence suggest that we either resign or retire. 
If some of us are unhappy, let us attempt to 
find happiness not so much in changing the 
geographical environment in which we are 
living as by changing the inner vision of our 

137 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


hearts. But I do not believe that the de¬ 
mand to withdraw the men from abroad 
has been inspired by the men in these fields. 
Is it not rather a misunderstanding on the 
part of certain minds in the church as to 
what the episcopacy is supposed to do abroad 
and as to the genius of our international ex¬ 
pansion? 

I sincerely trust there will be no serious 
or permanent reaction to the advance poli¬ 
cies adopted by the General Conference of 
1920. The election of a certain number of 
particular men to the episcopacy and their 
assignment to certain residences abroad is a 
mere incident in the general plan. The Gen¬ 
eral Conference of 1920 met at a time when 
great living streams, long hidden, began to 
break forth through the surface, and the del¬ 
egates had that sort of prescience which en¬ 
abled them to see the signs of the times, and 
to reach decisions calculated not only to af¬ 
fect the events of their own day but also of 
future generations. It is to be hoped that 
no agitation will put fear into our hearts nor 
cause us to look back, now that we have 

138 


APPENDIX A 


courageously crossed the Red Sea. The 
promised land lies ahead, not back among 
the flesh pots. 

Personally, I am of opinion that Dr. 
David G. Downey and the Committee on 
Episcopacy acted in the manner of modern 
Christian statesmen. I have watched Gen¬ 
eral Conferences for five quadrenniums, and 
I have never seen policies adopted with more 
steady devotion to the task in hand, nor with 
more freedom from haste or confusion. 
Anyone who attended the General Confer¬ 
ence of 1920 must have been conscious of 
the undercurrent of spiritual power which 
lifted the delegates like a rising tide. 

Let it not be said that the failure to realize 
the full expectation of Centenary finances 
should cause us to think that we have made 
gigantic blunders and have been stampeded 
into an advance for which we are unpre¬ 
pared. Money is useful, but it is not the 
only thing required for the advancement of 
the Kingdom. Leadership is often more es¬ 
sential where there is no money than where 
there is abundance . The policies adopted by 

139 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


the General Conference of 1920 can all be 
separated from any consideration whatever 
of the Centenary finances, and justify them¬ 
selves purely on their own merits. Particu¬ 
larly is this true with reference to interna¬ 
tional decisions, such as the provision for 
the careful, but progressive, enlargement of 
the powers of the Central Conferences. 

Why speak of the burden of expense in 
connection with episcopal supervision? 
There are in the whole church, in America 
and throughout the world, only thirty-seven 
effective bishops. These are the elected ad¬ 
ministrators for more than four millions of 
actual members and several more millions of 
constituents. These thirty-seven men, for 
all salaries, house rents, office rents, admin¬ 
istrative expenses, cables, postage, printing, 
and travel, cost an average of approximately 
$9,300 a year. What kind of financial cal¬ 
culation could possibly imagine that this is 
a heavy burden for our millions of members? 
Many local pastors and heads of local in¬ 
stitutions have larger salaries and more lib¬ 
eral allowances. To complain of a light bur- 

140 


APPENDIX A 


den of this character would be like impa¬ 
tiently pulling out one hair to relieve its ex¬ 
cessive weight on one’s head. 

The agitation with reference to the with¬ 
drawal of bishops from abroad, and the 
worry over the number of effective bishops 
now at work, leads one to wonder whether 
we really are an Episcopal Church. You 
do not find the other episcopal denomina¬ 
tions acting in this manner. Recently the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in one diocese 
elected a bishop coadjutor. There was al¬ 
ready a suffragan bishop. There are, there¬ 
fore, now in this one diocese three bishops of 
that church. A friend of mine, who is a 
member of that communion, has given me an 
estimated cost of diocesan administration as 
$65,000 for this one diocese and he says there 
is not a whisper of dissatisfaction, and that 
diocese includes only one half of one State. 
Furthermore, the Protestant Episcopal 
Church is by no means the strongest church 
in that section. This communion, with one 
fourth our membership, has within the terri¬ 
tory of the United States of America some- 

141 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


thing like seventy bishops. Our Methodist 
Episcopal Church has thirty-seven for the 
whole world. Nor do you find the Anglican 
Church, the Greek Church, or the Roman 
Catholic Church drastically limiting the 
number of episcopal administrators. They 
really believe in the episcopal form of church 
government and use it as an asset. 

We profess to believe that the episcopal 
form is an apostolic method of church gov¬ 
ernment. Then why not use it in the way 
the apostles did? 

It is possible that we might find it to our 
great advantage in America to have a bishop 
for practically each State in the Union, with 
perhaps two in such States as New York 
and Ohio, with residences at New York, 
Buffalo, Cleveland, and Cincinnati. The 
residences might well be at the capital city 
of the State. The Annual Conference terri¬ 
tories could be so readjusted as to conform, 
where practicable, to State lines. Under 
this plan there might be fewer district super¬ 
intendents in some Conferences, but this 
would not be an essential element. 

142 


APPENDIX A 


Furthermore, it is not at all certain but 
that in addition to the seventeen residences 
abroad there might not be profitably added 
a few new residences, such as Alaska. Think 
of the future of that empire, and what an 
itinerant pioneer bishop of the Asbury or 
McKendree type could do in that partially 
settled, but growing, modern American de¬ 
velopment. Other strategic centers might 
be Panama, the West Coast of South Amer¬ 
ica, Honolulu, West China, Rangoon, Delhi, 
North Africa, and Rome. A paragraph 
might easily be written, setting forth the 
advantages of each of these localities and 
others. 

It does not necessarily mean that all the 
bishops would have to be chosen from Amer¬ 
ica. Consider the nationalities and the birth¬ 
places of our bishops. Most of them, of 
course, have been and now are native citi¬ 
zens of the United States of America, but 
among those born in Great Britain were 
Coke, Asbury, Whatcoat, Thomson, Mc¬ 
Intyre, Burt, and Johnson. Four were 
born in Canada, namely, Fowler, Berry, 

143 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


Nicholson, and Warne. The last named has 
always been a citizen of the British Empire. 
One, J. E. Robinson, was born in Ireland. 
One, Anton Bast, was born in Denmark and 
continues to be a citizen of that country. 
One, Nuelsen, is a native of Switzerland. 
One, Richardson, is a native of the West In¬ 
dies. And one, Oldham, was born in India. 
There is no reason why we should not select 
the most capable and spiritually minded men 
available anywhere in our church, regardless 
of nationality. 

If any such plan of extension were 
adopted, it would need to be done, of course, 
in the spirit of the early church, touched by 
the modern vision. The work of such bish¬ 
ops would not be merely to conserve the es¬ 
tablished work, but to develop indigenous, 
self-supporting, self-propagating churches 
in the mission fields of the world. 

The growth of the Central-Conference 
plan will give us national church units in 
the several racial, language, and national 
groups. It must not be overlooked that one 
significant advantage of the episcopal plan 

144 


APPENDIX A 


of church government is the position occu¬ 
pied by a bishop in practically every coun¬ 
try of the world. There is a social, a po¬ 
litical, and a religious value in the episcopal 
system which we as a church have failed to 
appreciate and utilize. Only those conver¬ 
sant with the life in cosmopolitan centers 
throughout the world can appreciate the 
worth of an episcopal residence in great 
ports and commercial centers. 

A company of American travelers re¬ 
cently attended services at our Thoburn 
Church in Calcutta. Among them was a 
very prominent representative of another 
denomination. With enthusiasm he spoke 
to me of his pleasure in having found our 
English-speaking churches at Manila, 
Singapore, Penang, Rangoon, and Calcutta. 
His admiration for a church with such 
world-wide interests was manifest. A gen¬ 
tleman, standing by his side, mentioned his 
having worshiped for several years at our 
church in Buenos Ayres. In a conspicuous 
and serviceable way we could make our mes¬ 
sage known to mankind by maintaining ef- 

145 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


fective episcopal headquarters at the strate¬ 
gic crossroads of the world; not pushing in 
where other Christian forces are adequately 
caring for the work, but accompanying the 
natural human expansions, exactly as our 
pioneer itinerants did in the American West. 
Saint Paul followed the Mediterranean 
trade routes and human migrations, estab¬ 
lishing his ruling churches in the provincial 
centers of the empire. 

I am not urging the adoption of the above 
plan, nor would I wish this passing sugges¬ 
tion to be taken as an evidence of radicalism. 
It is merely an incidental attempt to call at¬ 
tention to the possibility of a greater utiliza¬ 
tion of our episcopal form of church govern¬ 
ment. 

One point that has not been presented in 
any of the current articles is the fact that a 
bishop in a church like ours is often more 
necessary in a pioneer field than in a well- 
established section. In the latter there are 
effective district superintendents constantly 
administering; there are successful pastors, 
efficient and prosperous laymen, presidents 

146 


APPENDIX A 


of colleges, and a score of other leaders in 
every walk of life, who carry on with little or 
no supervision. In remote places, however, 
daring and responsible leadership is required 
in all sorts of crises. Consider how paternal 
was Asbury in the pioneer days. Practi¬ 
cally every decision rested finally with him 
and his associates. But now many of the 
great institutions are self-managed, and give 
the bishop little concern. They are co¬ 
operating allies and supporters of the gen¬ 
eral administration. 

With reference to the number of bishops 
in other countries than the United States it 
is a question as to whether their areas should 
be so extensive and their labors so strenuous 
as to make it impossible for them to be me¬ 
diums between the church in America and 
the churches abroad. During the present 
generation the major support of missionary 
effort will continue to come from the Amer¬ 
ican churches, and the bishops in many in¬ 
stances would be the most authoritative 
source of information and inspiration for the 
missionary message. To illustrate: the re- 

147 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


cent meeting of the bishops decided that, in 
view of the situation, they would request 
Bishop Birney to return from China for a 
few months because the church had been de¬ 
prived of the Chinese message during the 
quadrennium, and because it was believed 
that the situation there, properly portrayed, 
would lead the church to enlarged support. 
A cable was sent to Bishop Birney request¬ 
ing his service. But it was impossible for 
him to accede to the request because the 
death of Bishop Lewis had placed upon the 
shoulders of two bishops the entire Chinese 
administration. It was utterly impossible 
to care for the Conferences except by strict 
adherence to residential supervision. Is this 
good business administration? Might not 
Bishop Birney’s compelling message, at the 
right hour, have been worth more than the 
cost of the support of two or three bishops 
for China during the quadrennium? 

This sketchy presentation is placed in the 
appendix because it is not an essential part 
of the general argument of this volume. We 
have administrative officers in addition to 

148 


APPENDIX A 


bishops, and our Boards are vast in their 
enterprise. We have also an inherent initia¬ 
tive on the part of district superintendents, 
pastors, evangelists, local preachers and lay¬ 
men which carries us constantly forward. 
Maybe we pay too much attention to bishops 
anyhow—however, audi alteram partem. 


149 


APPENDIX B 

THE INDIAN CHURCH MEASURE 

Along with other Christian forces the 
Church of England, in India, has attempted 
to adjust itself to the new conditions on the 
foreign mission field. As an established 
church certain limitations are recognized. 
The limitations are twofold, governmental 
and ecclesiastical. 

In 1920 the bishops in their Episcopal 
Synod, after consultation with ecclesiastical 
lawyers both in England and in India, drew 
up a suggested Bill for presentation to the 
government with a view to readjusting the 
charter of the church, so that the Indian con¬ 
stituency might become independent of 
Canterbury in matters of national policy, 
while remaining in full fellowship with the 
church as a whole. This bill was expected 
to establish a synodical church government 
on provincial lines. In explaining the pro¬ 
visions of the proposed Constitution the 

150 


APPENDIX B 


Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan of In¬ 
dia has suggested five points: (1) to au¬ 
thorize for use forms of service, and as re¬ 
quired revise the same and draft additional 
forms; (2) to frame canons and rules of dis¬ 
cipline; (3) to constitute new dioceses and 
determine their boundaries; (4) to elect and 
consecrate new bishops; (5) to institute 
church courts for the trial of ecclesiastical 
offenses. 

It will be recognized that certain of these 
privileges are already granted to Central 
Conferences by the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, while certain others are in line with 
the provisions now asked for by certain 
Methodist constituencies. 

The proposed Anglican amendment to the 
Constitution is now before the government 
in the form of a Bill presented to the Na¬ 
tional Assembly. There is widespread dis¬ 
cussion of the measure. The public press is 
full of letters on both sides of the con¬ 
troversy. Certain English members of the 
church are demanding that there be no 
change whatever, while Indians and the 

151 


WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


broader spirits among the English members 
of the church are demanding that some such 
measure be adopted both by the government 
and by the church. 

In discussing the proposal the Bishop of 
Calcutta has written the following illuminat¬ 
ing paragraphs: 

“By adopting a Constitution for the 
church in the Province we are not constitut¬ 
ing a new church. There is but the one Holy 
Catholic Church. It may be rent asunder, 
but the Church of England has always held 
the Catholic faith and maintained Catholic 
order. At the time of the Reformation, to 
borrow a well-known simile, the members 
of the Catholic Church in England felt that 
the face of the church had become somewhat 
disfigured by dirt, and determined to wash 
it. . . . Some will think that they scrubbed 
the church’s face too hard, and rubbed off 
more than the dirt; others may think that 
some of the dirt was left; but the main point 
is that you do not change your identity by 
washing your face, which it is wholly within 
your right to do. 


152 


APPENDIX B 


“In accordance with its inherent power 
the Church of England has from time to 
time issued determinations on matters of 
faith, and has authorized forms of worship 
and promulgated canons; but it has not es¬ 
tablished a new church in so doing. ... So 
it is with the members of the church in com¬ 
munion with the Church of England in In¬ 
dia; if, so far, they have conformed to the 
practice of the Church of England in all 
matters concerning their secondary formu¬ 
laries of faith, discipline, and worship, and 
now are convinced that in the interests of 
their life and work they need to modify some 
of these in their own way, while adhering in 
all essentials to the great Catholic tradition, 
they do not lose their identity by so doing; 
they do not become something which they 
were not before, but they take a step for¬ 
ward in the path of self-realization .” 1 

South India United Church 

In this connection it is interesting to note 
that the proposed enlargement of the con- 

1 The Statesman, Calcutta, September 1, 1923. 

153 



WHICH ROAD SHALL WE TAKE? 


stituencies within the United Church of 
South India provides that the entire church 
be in communion with all present Christian 
bodies. The purpose is to form an indige¬ 
nous church in full communion and fellow¬ 
ship with all those churches which brought 
the light of the gospel of Christ to India. 
It is not proposed to create a separate na¬ 
tional institution without international af¬ 
filiation and unity. 

These two illustrations with reference to 
the Anglican Church Measure in India and 
the United Church of South India, are re¬ 
ferred to for the purpose of further explain¬ 
ing the author’s thesis in this volume, 
namely, that the Methodist Episcopal 
Church must give itself in this day to the 
development of its international polity along 
such lines as will keep all our Christians in 
fellowship and communion, and, if possible, 
in organic unity, with the mother church, 
and at the same time make possible its fel¬ 
lowship, communion, and unity with other 
indigenous bodies in the various nations. 
Just how this can be done by Methodism 

154 


APPENDIX B 


and by other communions the author is not 
now able to predict. But he pleads for the 
continuation of organic Methodism as an 
international Christian body as the best step 
toward the realization of the ultimate ideal. 
We have no governmental establishment or 
connection, or limitation which ties our 
hands in any way, and it would be a shame 
to let mere tradition in nonessentials, such 
as methods of transacting our business, keep 
us from rendering the widest possible inter¬ 
national service. 


155 





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